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THE 



GOLDEN STATE: 

A HISTORY OF THE REGION 
WEST OF THE 

ROCKY MOUNTAINS; 



EMBRACING 



CALIFORNIA, 

OREGON. NEVADA, UTAH, ARIZONA, IDAHO, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA, 

ivom i\nt (^ixvlmt ^txM to tlt^ gr^isicut Wme: 

CITING A FULL ACCOtJNT OF 

THE DISCOVERY OF THE COUNTRY; EARLY VOYAGES OF SPANISH, ENGLISH 
PORTUGUESE. FRENCH, RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN NAVIGATORS; RULE OF 
SPAIN, MEXICO, AND THE UNITED STATES; EARLY SPANISH MISSIONS; 
REVOLUTIONS; CONQUEST BY MEXICO AND BY THE UNITED 
STATES; INAUGURATION OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION; DIS- 
COVERY OF GOLD; MINING, MINERALS, COMMERCE, 
AGRICULTURE, AND MANUFACTURES; 

ALSO, A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THB 

VltTNTAINS, SCF.NEny, VALLEYS, FORESTS. FLOWERS, RIVERS. LAKES. ISLANDS, DESERTS. 

WATERFALLS. BAYS, HARBORS, SPRINGS. GEYSERS. CLIMATE, SEASON'S. NATIVES. BIRD3, 

KISHKS, BEASTS, LANDS. NAVIGATION. ROADS, DITCHES, CANALS, POPULATION, 

CUSTOMS, SOCIETY, CHINESE. COURTS, LAWS. EDUCATION, SCHOOLS, RK- 

LIGION, CHURCHES, LITERATURE, EMIGRANTS. CITIES, COUNTIES. 

TOWNS, PROFESSIONS, TRADES, AMUSEMENTS, KtC. 

WITH A HISTORY OF 

MOKMONISM AND THE MOKMONS. 
By R. guy McCLELLA^, 

(Seveuteen Yean a Retident of the Pacific Coast,) 
AUTHOR OF "REPUBLICANISM IN AMERICA," Etc., 



lllustraled with Numerous Maps and Engravings. 



PUBLISHED BY I 

WILLIAM FLINT & COMPANY, 

PUl I..AOELPHIA, PA., CINCINNATI, C, ATLANTA, GA., SPKINGFIELD, M A.SS. 

UKION PUBLISHING COMPANY, CHICAGO, ILLS. 

A. ROMAN <t CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
CONNOLLY i KELLY, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

R. GUY McCLELLAN, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Entered, according to Act of the Farliament of Canada, in the year 1872, by 

R. GUY McCLELLAN, 

In the Office of the Minister of AcrricuUure. 



Entered, according to Act of Parliament, in the year 1872, by 

R. GUY iVicCLELLAN, 

At Stationers' Hall, London, England. 



STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY THE 

CO-OPERATIVE PRINTING COMPANY, 

NOb. 30 AND 32 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET, 

rillLADELPHlA. 






PREFACE. 

In presenting to the reader that region of the Republic of America 
lying west of the Rocky mountains, a territory bewildering in its 
vastness, and fertile, rich, varied, wild, and picturesque beyond 
description, reveals its charms ; and a history of unbounded fas- 
cination, leading its devious courses through the rough seas of the 
buccaneer and navigator, over the arid plains and precipitate moun- 
tains of the explorer, checkered and interspersed with the pilgrimages 
of the holy fathers, the march of conquering bands, the achievements 
of invading armies, the rise and fall of nations, the events of dis- 
covery and conquest, the revealing of unlimited treasures, the opening 
of new avenues of commerce, the building of new societies, the 
founding of new states, the advent of new social and religious con- 
ditions, the weird enchantments of the phantom king, gold, and 
the delusive and fascinating hopes of his devotees. 

The binding together of the extremes of the nation by bands of 
steel, upon which the swift courser with iron hoof and fiery breath 
leaps over vast plains and climbs arid heights in his journey from 
sea to sea, the broad-winged messenger of commerce teaching the 
lesson of exchange and intercourse to the Orient and new republic, 
daily tend to awaken interests in our newest but richest half of the 
nation, and familiarize the people of every clime with the unrivalled 
beauty and attractions of that vast domain, passing from the chaos 
of bygone ages into the activities of unsurpassed social and com- 
mercial life. 

So little is known abroad respecting the vastness, fertility, natural 
wealth, genial climate, and great development of the Pacific slope, 
that I write in the ardent hope of drawing the attention of the public 
of America and the adventurous of all lands to a section embracing 
more than one-half of the area of the whole American Republic, and 

(15) 



l6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

containing more of the precious metals than all the world beside — 
a land whose giant mountains in their eternal ermine crowns, looking 
from their thrones of clouds, forest trees lifting their arms toward 
the sky, and mountain runs tumbling their crystal floods from aerial 
heights, present the grandest scenes of terrestrial beauty. 

Many books have been written respecting the Pacific coast and 
its people ; but, in most cases, they have been the result of the ex- 
aggerated and distorted visions of early voyagers, or the superficial 
observer, catching brief glimpses of the Sierras in hurried trip from 
ocean to ocean, or the wild dreams of some enthusiast fresh from 
the snows of the East, plunged into the flower gardens of the Golden 
State, and sipping the rich wines of Los Angeles at the festive boards 
of kind friends. 

In producing a History of the whole Pacific Coast, from the 
northern extreme of Alaska to the tropical regions of Mexico, I have 
brought to my aid the experience of seventeen years residence and 
active participation in the stirring events and business affairs of the 
country, and extensive travel and observation in California, Nevada, 
Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Washington Territory, and British Columbia, 
where, by the camp-fire of the pilgrim gold-hunter, in the dark 
chamber of the mine, on the tedious march, and dangerous ascent of 
the mountain height, the checkered fortune and uncertain fate, I 
have been enabled to present from personal and long experience the 
chief events whereof I write. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Yosemite Falls and Valley, 

Aurora Borealis, as seen in Northern Alaska, 

Map of North America, 

The Golden Gate, . . , 

Sir Francis Drake in California in 1579, . 

Spanish Ship of the Seventeenth Century, 

The Golden Gate and Bay of San Francisco in 

Montgomery Street, San Francisco, in 1849, 

Mission of Santa Barbara in 1786, 

Father Garzes and the Indians in 1775, 

Mission of San Carlos in 1770, 

Frontier Fort, . . , , 

Mud Volcano, , , , , 

Falls of the Yellowstone, 

Dale Creek Bridge, Rocky Mountains, 

Sherman, Summit of the Rocky Mountains 

Monterey, California, in 1846, 

Mission Rancho, California, in 1776, . 

Mission of San Francisco in 1776, . 

New Almaden Quicksilver Mines, 

Dennison's Exchange and the Parker House, 

Island and Cove of Yerba Buena, 

Sutter's Mill — First Discovery of Gold, 

James W. Marshall, Discoverer of Gold, 

" Honest Miners " Going Home, . . 

Surface Gold Mining in 1849, 

Interior of the El Dorados, 

San Francisco in 1849, 

Celebrating the First Fourth of July, 1836, 

First Protestant Church in San P'rancisco, 

Rush to the Gold Mines in 1848, . 

Horse-Raising in California, 

Map of the State of California, 

Night Scene on the San Joaquin River, 

Night Scene on the Sacramento River, 

The Ford of the Yosemite, 

Mount Shasta, .... 



1769, 



M) 



Title 

15 

21 

Z3 
40 
40 
48 
48 
5^ 
53 
64 
70 
74 
75 
78 
83 
86 
86 

lOI 
lOI 

no 
no 
n6 
126 
120 
121 
121 
124 
124 

140 
147 

«54 
154 
'55 
«55 



i8 



JLLUSTRAIYOA'S. 



" Big Trees " of Mariposa and Calaveras, 
The Pioneer's Cabin : Room for Thirty Inside 
Nevada Falls, Yosemite Valley, 
Section of Mammoth Tree, 
A Cotillon Party on the Stump of the Mammo 
Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley, . 

Sentinel Rock, Yosemite Valley, . 
Donner Lake, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
Seal Rock and the " Cliff House," , 

Farallone Islands, . . . 

Sea Lions near the Golden Gate, . 

Yosemite Falls, 

South, or Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, 
El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, 
Cathedral Rocks, Yosemite Valley, , 

Bull and Bear Fight, . 
Whale Fishing off the Coast of Alaska, 
Emigrant Train — Gold Hunters, 
Chinese Gold Mining in California, 
Miners Around Their Camp-Fire, 
Snow Sheds, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
Hydraulic Mining, 
Mail Service in the Sierra Nevadas, 
Crossing the Plains, 

Moving on the Plains, , . . 

Rodeo — Cattle-Branding, 
Lassoing Horses in California, . . 

The Giantess, .... 
Great Geyser of the Fire-Hole Basin, 
The Bee-Hive, 

Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley, 
North Dome and Royal Arch, 
Cape Horn, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
Tunnel in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
'Lincoln School-House, San FVancisco, 
First School-House in San Francisco, , 

Mount Tamalpais, . . , 

;Summit of the Sierras, . . , 

.First Hotel in San Francisco, . . 

•Grand Hotel, San Francisco, 
San Francisco Destroyed by Fire, . 

;San Francisco in 1847, . . . 



h T 



ILL USTRA TIOXS. 



19 



Custom House, San Francisco, in 1S49, 

Post Office, San Francisco, in 1849, 

A Buffalo Hunt on the Plains, . 

Giant Geyser, Yellowstone Region, 

The Fan Geyser, Yellowstone Region, 

Bathing Pools, Yellowstone Region, 

The Grotto Geysers, Yellowstone Region, 

First Glimpses of the Sierras, 

Giant's Gap, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 

American River, Sierra Nevada Mountain 

Pleasant Valley, . 

Interior of Snow-Sheds, . . 

Map of the Pacific States, , 

Deer Hunting in Oregon, . . 

Falls on Columbia River, 

View on the Columbia River, 

Catching Salmon, Columbia River, 

Mount Hood, Oregon, . . 

Scene on the Columliia River, . 

Star Peak, Nevada, 

Mule Team Going to the Silver-Mines, 

Indians Horse-Racing on the Plains, 

General View of Great Salt Lake City, 

Brigham Young's Harems, Salt Lake City 

Street Scene in Salt Lake City, 

Witches Rock, 

Starting for the Mines, . , , 

Wagon Load of Mormons, 

Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, 

A Mormon Family, 

Pulpit Rock, Echo Caiion, Utah, 

Monument Rock, Echo Canon, Utah, 

Joseph Smith, Founder of the Mormon Church 

Brigham Young, Head of the Mormon Church 

Joseph F. Smith, One of the " Twelve Apostles 

Mrs. Alice Young Clawson, Brigham Youns;';; Dau<;htt 

George A. Smith, " Church Historian," 

Orson Hyde, President of the Twelve Apostles 

Orson Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles, 

Brigham Young and a Portion of His Family, 

Finger Rock, Weber Canon, Utah, 

View of Great Salt Lake, . 

Procuring Poison for His Arrows, . 

Interview with a Grizzly, . . . 



rAG'j. 

462 

462 

474 
4S2 
4S2 
4^3 
4S3 
504 
512 

5t- 
516 

.520 
530 
530 
534 
538 
53'^ 
541 
544 
54S 
549 
554 
554 
555 
555 
555 
55^ 
55S 
559 
559 
562 
562 
562 
562 
563 

563 
574 

582 

590 
600 
604 



20 



IL L US TRA TIONS. 



Apache Squaw, Scalp-Dance, . . 

Shooling Mountain Sheep, 

Indians Gambling, 

Tlie (jieat Shoshone Falls, Idaho, . 

Council with Friendly Indians, , 

Emigrants Fording the Snake River, 

The Great Canon and Palis of the Yellow.- 

The Devil's Slide, Yellowstone Region, 

Castle Rock, Columbia River, . 

Mount Rainier, 

Indian Canoe Race, on Interior Lake, 

Old Fort Walla- Walla, 

Shale Rocks and Tower Falls, Yellovi'sto;: 

Great Spirit, Fire-Hole Basin, 

Yellowstone Lake, . . . 

Indian Encampment, Peget Sound, 

Elk Hunting, British Columbia, 

Indians, Interior of Alaska, 

Native of British Columbia, 

Map of Alaska and British Columbia, 

Sitka, or New Archangel, 

Icebergs oflf the Coast of Alaska, . 

Natives' Housebuilding, Alaska, , 

Skin Canoe and Indians, Alaslca, . 

Aurora Borealis as seen in Alaska, 

Moose Hunting in the Yukon, Alaska, 



PAGB. 
604 
605 
605 
607 
610 
610 
612 
613 
616 
616 
620 
621 
624 
625 
625 
628 
632 
638 

63<S 
644 
648 
652 
656 
656 
662 
666 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. i 

Discovery of America — Earliest colonization — Columbus' voy- 
ages — Spanish in South and Central America — Cortez in 
Mexico — Cabrillo and Drake in California — Behring, Cook, 
Vancouver, and other navigators — Jesuits — Acquisition of 
California — Discovery of Gold 33 

CHAPTER II. 

First recorded history — Jesuits — Missions — Cortez' expedi- 
tion — Exploration of the Gulf of California — Ulloa's expedi- 
tion — Cortez returns to Spain — Cabrillo's expedition — Sir 
Francis Drake's expedition : he takes possession of Califor- 
nia — New Albion — San Diego and Monterey discovered — • 
The Golden Gate not yet discovered — Viscayno's voyage — 
Father Tierra's expedition : he takes possession of California 
in the name of the King of Spain — Conversion of the 
heathen — Father Ugarte's expedition — The Jesuits expelled — 
Franciscan missions established — Father Serra's expedition — 
Dominican friars in California — Voyage of the San Carlos 
and San Antonio — Loss of the San Jose 40 

CHAPTER III. 

Don Portala's expedition — First settlement established — Father 
Serra at San Diego — First chapel built — Discovery of the 
Bay of San Francisco — Founding of missions — San Carlos 
the first vessel that entered the Golden Gate — Native civili- 
zation — Spain and the Franciscan fathers — Wealth of the 
missions — Independence of Mexico — Government of Cali- 
fornia — Manumission of the Indians — Property of the missions 

confiscated — Departure of the fathers 49 

(21) 



22 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Republican government in Mexico — American flag hoisted at 
Monterey — France and England seek to possess Califor- 
nia — De Mofra's explorations — Russians in California — 
Revolution : a Yankee in it — Monterey captured by Alva- 
rado and Graham — California declared a free State — Vallejo 
military chief — Religion established by law — Mexican author- 
ity again recognized — Graham and others banished — Com- 
modore Jones declares California a part of the United States 
in 1842 — Revolution of 1844 — Castro General-in-chief — 
Banishment of Governor Micheltorena 58 

CHAPTER V. 

Early navigators — Voyage of Sir Francis Drake — Voyages of 
Sebastian Viscayno and Vistus Behring — Settlement of Sitka 
— King George's Sound Company — East India Company — 
Thomas Jefferson's interest in the Pacific coast — Expedi- 
tion of John Ledyard : he is arrested by order of the 
Empress of Russia — Voyage of Vancouver — The King of 
Spain forbids Captain Cook to enter California — First Amer- 
ican vessels on the Pacific coast — Captain Gray discovers the 
Columbia river — First American vessel enters the Bay of San 
Francisco — John Brown and Thomas Raben first Americans 
in California — Trade to the Columbia river — Count Rosa- 
noff in California — Delia Byrd enters San Diego — Russians 
evacuate California at the request of the United States — 
Expedition of Lewis and Clark — First settlement in Oregon 
■ — John Jacob Astor founds Astoria — Fur trade of Oregon — ■ 
The British take possession of Oregon — Its restoration to 
the United States — Astor's fur trade in the Rocky moun- 
tains — First overland journey to California — Arrest of Jede- 
diah Smith — Letter from American seamen in 1826 — Letter 
from Smith to one of the fathers — Death of J. S. Smith 
— Pattie's expedition — Asiatic emigration encouraged — First 
settlers in California — First mercantile house in California — • 
Commodore Wilkes' expedition to the Pacific — Discovery of 
a wrecked Japanese junk — Fremont's explorations — Sutter's 
hospitality — End of Fremont's second exploration 64 



CONTENTS. 23 

CHAPTER VI. 
Pico and Castro in command of California — Decline of the 
missions — Early trade — English, French, and American 
consuls in California — Indolence of the people — Fremont's 
third exploration : his trials and triumphs in California — 
Castro and Fremont — Fremont raises the American flag — 
Lieutenant Gillespie carries letters to Fremont — Kit Carson 
saves Fremont — Sonoma captured — W. B. Ide declares a 
republican government and hoists the "Bear Flag" — Fre- 
mont elected Governor — Commodore Sloat captures Mon- 
terey — British projects frustrated — Sloat's proclamation — 
The American flag hoisted in San Francisco — Commodore 
Stockton at Monterey — Dupont and General Kearney at 
Monterey — Arrival of Stevenson's regiment — Uneasiness of 
the native Californians — Interesting speeches — Proposition to 
place California under the protection of England or France — 
General Vallejo favors annexation to the United States %(i 

CHAPTER VII. 

Feud between Sloat and Fremont — Commodore Stockton in 
command : his proclamation — Departure of Sloat — Castro, 
Pico, and Flores oppose the Americans — Stockton warns 
Castro of his peril — Flores' proclamation to his countrymen 
— Final surrender of the Mexicans — Treaty of peace con- 
cluded — Strife between Commodore Stockton and General 
Kearney — Fremont appointed Military Governor — Stockton 
takes his departure — Fremont ousted — General Kearney and 
Commodore Shubrick in command — Colonel Mason super- 
sedes General Kearney — General Kearney proceeds to Wash- 
ington — His ill-treatment of Fremont — Fremont arrested and 
carried to Fortress Monroe — Court-martialled — Discharged 
from arrest by order of the President — Nominated for the 
Presidency i o i 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Colonel Mason and General Riley in command of the govern- 
ment of California — End of the Mexican war — Acquisition 
of Texas and New Mexico — Treaty between the United States 



24 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and Mexico — Boundary established — Convention to frame a 
State Constitution meets at Monterey — California admitted 
into the Union — Treaty between England and the United 
States defining western boundary — Claims of Portugal to 
California — Claims of Spain^ — Pope Alexander VI settles the 
dispute — Treaty between Spain and Portugal — A bull from 
the Pope — Chain of title to California — Speech of Hon. 
Thomas H. Benton on the boundary question — Treaty stipu- 
lations — Rulers under Spanish, Mexican, and United States 
governments in California — English, French, and American 
consuls in California no 



CHAPTER IX. 

California under American rule — Population in 1842 and 1845 
— Arrival of Mormons at San Francisco — Population in 
1848 — In 1870 — Composition of population of San Francisco 
in 1842 — Establishment of Mission Dolores — First house built 
in San Francisco — First child born — Hudson Bay Company 
at San Francisco — First newspaper in California — First school 
— First Protestant minister — First Protestant church — First 
steamboat — Discovery of gold — Sutter and Marshall — First 
mining — Rush to the mines — Official notice of the gold 
discovery — Early gold-seekers — ^Advent of the Chinese 116 



CHAPTER X. 

Population of California in 1849 — Rush to the mines — Gold 
yield of 1848 — Population and scenes of San Francisco in 
1849 — Ships for California — Overland emigration — Across 
the Isthmus — Arrival of first steamer — Commerce in 1849 — 
Occupations of the people — Gray-shirt brigade — Ships at a 
discount — Up the Sacramento river — Early disappointments 
— Gambling — Gold product — Gold excitements — Honesty 
of the ''forty-niners" — Lynch law — Prices in the mines — • 
Cultivation of the soil — Cattle — Eggs — Fruit — All "going 
home in the spring" — Indians in the mines — Yankee specu- 
lators — Suffering and disappointments in the mines — Miners 
going home 124 



CONTENTS. 25 

CHAPTER XL 

Growing importance of San Francisco — Crime and dissipation 
— First Vigilance Committee — LaAv and order — Building a 
city — Destroyed by fire — Rebuilt — Wild speculation — 
Strange occupations — Fortune and misfortune — First house 
built at Sacramento — Population of — Prosperity in business 
and speculation — Price of land in San Francisco — Rents in 
San Francisco — Prices of merchandise — Amusements — Board 
— Labor — Cost of building — Streets paved with merchandise 
— Gold-hunters still arriving — Largest product of gold — 
Suicide and death — Only a mining country — Import of 
breadstuffs — Interior steam-navigation — First river-steamer — 
Fares on the rivers 133 

CHAPTER XIL 

Early agriculture — No vegetables — Gardening in the mines — 
Advent of farmers — Ignorance of seasons and crops — Increase 
of agriculture — Lumber — Fishing — Manufacturing — Coal — 
Fruits — Vegetables — Permanent settlement in California — 
Varied industry — Happy homes — Legitimate occupations — 
Gold-hunters' graves — Overland emigration — Suffering of the 
"Donner party" — Settlers to the rescue 140 

CHAPTER XIIL 

California — Origin of the name — Griffins in the land — Hot 
ovens of the natives — Area of the State — Agricultural, min- 
eral, grazing, and marsh lands — Area equal to one hundred 
and forty-five States the size of Rhode Island — Compared 
with states and countries of Europe — Equal to thirty-eight 
governments of Europe — Capable of supporting a population 
of eighty-three million — Great productiveness of the soil — 
Genial climate — Great natural resources — Commercial im- 
portance — Mountains — Valleys — Rivers — Climate — Seasons 
— Harvests — Forests — Mineral range — Beauties and wonders 
of the Sierras 147' 



26 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Mountains — Sierra Nevadas — Winter, spring, and summer in 
the Sierras — Snows of the mountains — Farming, lumbering, 
and grazing in the Sierras — Forests — Big trees — Shrubs — • 
Plants — Flowers — Grasses — Poison oak , 159 

CHAPTER XV. 

Valleys — Trees, vegetables, fruits, flowers, grain, and grasses — 
Lakes — ^Alkaline and borax lakes — Dry lakes — Death valley. 1 70 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Rivers — Bays — Harbors — Bay of San Francisco — Puget sound 
— Fort Point — Straits — San Quentin — Islands — Seal Rock — 
Cliff House — Sea-lions — Golden Gate: origin of the name. 181 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Islands off the coast — Farallones — ^Islands in bays and rivers — 
First mint in California — Indian tribes — Shell money — 
Springs — Petroleum — Mud springs — Calistoga springs — Sul- 
phur springs — Soda springs — Tar springs — Asphaltum — 
Geysers 202 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Waterfalls — Yosemite falls — Creeks — Rivers — Mirror lake — 
Bridal Vail — Earthquakes , 214 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Zoology — Relics of antiquity — Animals — Birds — Fishes — ^Bull 
and bear fights — Reptiles — Bees — Horned toad — Whales. . . . 236 



CONTENTS. ^ „ 

CHAPTER XX. 

The precious metals — First mention of gold — Gold in Eden — 
Gods of the heathen — Aaron's golden calf — Ornaments of 
Jerusalem — Gold of the Romans — First gold in America — • 
Gold in South America and Mexico — Gold in Asia and 
Europe — Gold-mining in the United States — Discovery of 
gold in California — Sir Francis Drake's voyage — Expedition 
of Commodore Wilkes to California — Product of gold — 
Mining operations — Quartz and quartz-mining — Rich mines 
— Quartz mills — Discovery of gold in Australia : yield of the 
precious metals in — On the Pacific coast — Mineral wealth of 
Great Britain — Progress of mining in Australia — Chinese 
in the gold-fields — Precious metal in the world 248 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Tunnel-mining — Sutro tunnel — Canals — Ditches — Asphaltum 
— Cement — Coal — Copper — Cobalt — Nickle — Diamonds — 
Electro-silicon — Gypsum — Iron — Lead — Petroleum — Quick- 
silver — Salt — Sulphur — Tin — Marble — Granite — Caves — 
Mining laws — Mining laws of Spain and Mexico — Geology 
and mineralogy — Great mines of the world 271 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Climate — Seasons — Heat and cold — Winter in the Sierras — 
Trade-winds — Animal vitality — Summer in the Sierras and 
valleys — Rain-fall compared with other parts of the world — 
Flowers of the valleys — Spring-time — Wheat-fields — Agricul- 
ture — Harvesting — Planting and sowing — Volunteer crops — 
Straw-burning — Storms and hurricanes — Sand-storms 292 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Agriculture — Manufactures — Commerce — First agriculture in 
America — Increase of agriculture in California — Decline of 
mining — Decay of mining towns — Area of California — Agri- 
cultural lands — Spanish grants — Vast estates — How to obtain 



28 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

public lands — School lands — Who may secure the public 
lands — Grain, fruit, and vegetable growing — ^Yield of grain 
per acre — Harvesting — Wild oats — Wild mustard — Hops 
— Potatoes — Tobacco — Large vegetable growths — Straw- 
berries — Tropical fruits — Oranges, figs, and nuts — The grape 
— Fertility of the Sierras — Tea culture — Beet sugar — Cotton 
and rice — Silk culture 309 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Sheep and wool — Horses — Cattle raising and branding — Rodeos 
— Native horsemanship — Lassoing grizzly bears — Poultry and 
bees 342 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Natural advantages — Regularity of climate — Perpetual summer 
— Advantages for manufacturing — Interest on money — Manu- 
factories — Railroads first in California — Great overland rail- 
road: building and completion of — Government aid in bonds 
and lands to railroads — "The last tie" — Rejoicings at the 
completion of the great national highway — Ocean, bay, and 
river navigation — Ship-building — Telegraphs, postage, and 
post-offices — United States branch mint — Circulating me- 
dium — Mints on the Pacific coast — Navy-yard — Commerce — 
Exports of gold and merchandise — Agricultural and mechani- , 
cal products — Decline in gold-mining — Shipping of San 
Francisco — Imports and exports — Effects of the overland 
railroad 355 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Education — Free schools — Schools in San Francisco — Cost of 
School Department — Chinese schools — Indian slaves — Na- 
tional education — Agricultural colleges — State university — 
Agricultural societies — Reform, deaf, dumb, and blind 
schools — Newspapers — Books — Libraries — Literature — Pro- 
tective and benevolent societies — Religion — Prisons and 
crihies — Asylums — Governors of California — Laws — Lawyers 
— Doctors — Divines 38a 



CONTENTS. 29 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Chinese empire — Chinese in the United States — Seeking gold 
in America — In California — Employments, character, and 
customs of the Chinese — Chinese in San Francisco — Moral 
depravity — Chinese persecuted — Social and political condi- 
tion of the Chinese — Buddha, Confucius, and Mencius — 
Religion of the Orient — Chinese classics — Opium and other 
stimulants — Small feet of the women — Christianity among 
the Chinese — Coolyism — Chinese slavery in America — 
Spanish. barbarity 420 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

Counties — Coast counties — Area — Productions — Population 
— San Diego — Los Angeles — Santa Barbara — San Luis Obispo 
— Monterey — Santa Cruz — San Mateo — San Francisco : com- 
position of the city, its population, education, buildings, 
trades, professions, newspapers, nationalities, society — Marin 
— Sonoma — Mendocino — Humboldt — Klamath — Del Norte. 443 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Interior and valley counties — Resources, climate, and popula- 
tion — Siskiyou — Trinity — Shasta — Tehama — Butte — Colusa 
— Yuba — Sutter — Yolo — Lake — Napa — Solano — Sacramento 
— Contra Costa — Alameda — San Joaquin — Stanislaus — Santa 
Clara — Merced — Fresno — Tulare — Kern — San Bernardino. . 474 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Mountain counties — Area, resources, climate, and population— 
Inyo — Mono — Mariposa — Tuolumne — Calaveras — Amador 
— Alpine — El Dorado — Placer — Nevada — Sierra — Plumas — 
Lassen 504 



30 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Pacific coast — Oregon — Nevada — Utah — Arizona — Idaho — 
Washington Territory — British Columbia and Alaska 523 

OREGON. 
History—Geography — Climate — Seasons — Forests — Minerals — • 
Ivlining — Agriculture— Rivers — Mountains — Resources — Pro- 
gress — Area — Population — Cities — Society 526 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
NEVADA. 
Acquisition of — Area — Population — Geography — Mountains — • 
Valleys — Lakes — Rivers — Forests — Soil — Seasons — Climate 
— Mines — Mining — Minerals — Counties — Cities — Progress 
— Schools-r-Newspapers — Libraries — Future prospects 541 

CHAPTER XXXIIL 
UTAH. 
Area — Acquisition — Climate — Seasons — Mines — Mining — 
Minerals — Mountains — Lakes — Rivers — Agriculture — Edu- 
cation — Material development — Mormons — Society — Popu- 
lation — Great Salt lake and Salt Lake City — Overland rail- 
road — Discovery and history of Salt lake 549 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 

Population and religions of the world — Christianity — Moham- 
medanism — Buddhism — Judaism — Mormonism ; its rise, 
progress, history, and practices — Joseph the propliet and his 
followers — The golden plates from the hill Cumorah — Christ 
in America — Mormon and Moroni — John the Baptist ordains 
Joseph Smith — Smith's birth, early history, life, adventures, 
and death — Polygamy — Brigham Young : his birth, history, 
and career — Desertion of Nauvoo — Mormons march west- 
ward — Settle at Salt lake — Their city, religion, society, and 
practices — Despotism in Utah — Mormon godhead 563 



CONTENTS. 31 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
ARIZONA TERRITORY. 
Area and population — Climate — Soil — Mountains' — Rivers — 
Forests — Mines — Mining — Minerals — Settlement — Civiliza- 
tion — Railroads — Indians. 600 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

IDAHO TERRITORY. 

Area — Geography — Mountains — Rivers — Forests — Lakes — 
Scenery — Waterfalls — Valleys — Agriculture — Climate — In- 
dians — Gold and silver mines — Material progress — Railroads 
—Cities and towns — Population 607 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 

History, area, and population — Boundary — Geography — Moun- 
tains — Lakes — Rivers — Bays — Harbors — Seasons — Climate 
— Agriculture — Grazing — Forests — Lumber — Commerce — 
Fish — Game — Natives — Gold, silver, coal, and other mines 
— Progress — Railroads 613 

CHAPTER XXXVin. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Geography — History — Hudson Bay Company — Area — Islands 
— Mountains — Rivers — Lakes — Forests — Climate — Agricul- 
ture — Valleys — Seasons — Rain — Bays — Harbors — Inlets — 
Natural resources — Gold and other minerals — Cities — Customs 
— ^Population — Natives — Commerce — Canadian railway 632 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

ALASKA. 

History — Geography — Area — Mountains — Forests — Rivers — 
Seas — Bays — Harbors — Islands — Climate — Seasons — Mines 
— Natives — Fish — Animals — Fur-seals — Commerce — Popu- 
lation — Towns — Progress — Religion — Future prospects 644 



32 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XL. 
APPENDIX. 

Population of the United States: native, foreign, colored, and 
Chinese — Population of the Pacific coast : native, foreign, 
and Chinese — Population by counties of California, Oregon, 
Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Washington Territory : also, 
aggregate of Alaska and British Columbia — Chinese in the 
United States and on the Pacific coast — Distances from San 
Francisco to various points inland and to various ports and 
countries and cities of the United States — Population of 
cities. . , , I • 658 



THE GOLDEN STATE 



CHAPTER I. 

Discovery of America — Earliest Colonization — Columbus' Voyages 
— Spanish in South and Central America — Cortez in Mexico 
— Cabrillo and Drake in California — Behring, Cook, Vancouver, 
and other navigators — Jesuits — Acquisition of California — Dis- 
covery of Gold. 

The growth of civilization and colonization in what 
is termed the New World presents many striking feat- 
ures of interest ; and the tedious march of progress in 
the early history of the country contrasts forcibly with 
the rapid strides of popular institutions, education, and 
the advancement of the present period. 

Modern colonization in America, as it marches west- 
ward, subduing prairie and forest, spanning rivers and 
piercing mountains, establishing governments, found- 
ing states and cherishing civilization, is in hopeful con- 
trast with the decay of many of the countries and: 
governments of Europe, where a stagnation of ideas,, 
stereotyped monotony, and general apathy of the peo- 
ple mark the decline of many of these countries, whose 
haughty rulers reigned in splendor centuries before 
America was known. 

Colonization and civilization in America advanced 
with singular irregularity ; often contending with most 
formidable natural obstacles, while vast regions, most 
inviting and possessing great natural attractions, were 

3 (33) 



34 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

entirely neglected or unknown. Thus, while the seeds 
of our social and national existence were beine sown 
in the east, the vast territory of California, with its rich 
soil, genial climate, and balmy atmosphere, lay wrapped 
in primitive solitude. 

The first settlement and attempt at civilization on 
the western continent was made in Mexico, by the races 
of men whose origin is still a mystery. The Taltecs, 
who, in the year A. D. 700, first settled in this country, 
maintained a semi-civilization in Mexico for four centu- 
ries ; from which period, for four additional centuries, 
(until 1 52 1,) the Aztecs, and other tribes from the 
north, maintained a form of government, founded the 
city of Mexico, and erected the splendid temples and 
palaces from which the ambitious Spaniard, Cortez, in 
1 521, drove Montezuma and put an end to Aztec rule 
in Mexico. 

Iceland, whose eternal glaciers stand sheer and cold, 
was the next part of America discovered, (if this 
dependency of Denmark can be called a part of 
America.) This event dates from the year 860, when 
the Norwegian pirate, Naddodr, was wrecked upon its 
shores. In 874 a colony of Naddodr's countrymen^ 
seeking refuge from the tyranny of Harfager, founded 
a colony and established a republican government in 
these inhospitable regions ; and with the introduction 
of Christianity in the year 1000, and the art of writing 
in 1057, the foundation of modern civilization was laid 
in the western world. 

Greenland, discovered and settled about the same 
time as Iceland, had entered upon a career of civiliza- 
tion, and litde doubt exists but that the Northmen, in 
making their voyages from Norway to Iceland and 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC. 35 

Greenland, had frequendy touched along die coast of 
New England ; but these early northern colonies, after 
existing for four centuries, passed away, and, from 1404 
until 1576, had almost gone from the memory of man 
and had to be rediscovered in 1721. 

America still slumbered until 1492, when Columbus 
brought the new world into the family of nations. The 
newly discovered continent awaited a name, which the 
voyage of the ambitious Amerigo Vespucci, in 1499, 
furnished, he giving it his own Christian name. 

Cabot, at Newfoundland, in 1497, and Columbus' 
voyages, were drawing attention to the Atlantic side of 
the continent. Alvarez de Cabral had made known 
his discovery of Brazil in 1501, but the waters of the 
great ocean west of iVmerica had not yet been seen by 
European eye ; this was reserved for the Spanish 
adventurer, Balboa, who, in 1513, after making a jour- 
ney into the interior of Darien, (Colombia,) was led to 
a high mountain by the natives, from a peak of which 
he first beheld the waters of the Pacific ocean. Clad 
in an armor of mail, with the royal flag of Spain, upon 
which was emblazoned Mary and the infant Jesus in 
her arms, and the crown of his sovereign, he waded 
deep into the water and exclaimed to his soldiers and 
followers, " Spectators of both heinisphei'es, I call you to 
witness that I take possession of this part of the universe 
for the crown of Castile. My szvord shall defend what 
my arm hath given to it." 

Simultaneously with the entr}' of Cortez Into Mexico 
in 1 5 19, the Portuguese navigator, Magellan, then in 
the employ of the Spanish government, effected an 
entrance into the Pacific ocean through the straits now 
bearing his name. To this gallant navigator (slain at 



36 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the Philippines, in 1520) are we indebted for the 
appropriate name of this vast ocean — Pacific. 

Other navigators and explorers came. Cortez, hav- 
ing conquered Mexico, pushed westward to the Gulf of 
California in 1534, and, from that period up to 1540, 
the date of his final departure to Spain, had made 
several expeditions in the vicinity of Lower California. 
In 1535, Pizarro was asserting Spanish domination in 
Peru. The year 1542 found Cabrillo exploring the 
coast of California as far north as Cape Mendocino. 
Francis Drake, in 1579, was buffeting the north winds 
of the Pacific, and erecting the flag of monarchical 
England upon the shores of California ; and 1 602 found 
the Spanish navigator, Viscayno, exploring the lower 
coast of California and seeking shelter in the harbors 
of San Diego and Monterey. The first colonization 
of what is now the Republic of America was effected 
in Virginia, in 1607; and 1620 witnessed the Pilgrims 
landincr on the shores of New Enoland. 

Lemaire and Schouten, the Dutch navigators, in 
1615, had discovered Cape Horn. The Danish navi- 
gator, Behring, in the service of Russia, had, in 1727, 
discovered the passage between the continents of 
Europe and America, giving it his own name, and 
traversed the lonely shores of Alaska. The year 1764 
found the English explorers, Willis and Carteret, navi- 
gating the North Pacific and establishing English do- 
minion on the Pacific side of British Columbia. The 
famous Captain Cook had made his first voyage to the 
Pacific in 1768. The cross of the Jesuit fathers was 
first carried into California and planted at San Diego 
in 1769. The English navigator, Vancouver, in 1770, 
was exploring the Straits of Fuca and the island now 



JESUITS OCCUPY CALIFORNIA. 37 

called after its discoverer. Kenguelen, the French 
navigator, in 1772, was sailing in the waters of the 
North Pacific. 

During all these eventful years, while, from Iceland 
to Patagonia and distant Alaska, America was being 
explored and settled, up to July, 1769, when Governor 
Portala first beheld the Bay of San Francisco, the vast 
region of California, its genial climate, rich soil, tower- 
ing mountains, and mineral wealth, were all unknown 
to civilized man. No furrow had been turned in all 
her broad, rich valleys ; no hand had touched her 
golden treasures; no keel had ruffled her placid waters; 
and, although her mighty Golden Gate had stood ajar 
since creation's dawn, the mystic seal that secluded her 
charms was still unbroken save by the wild birds, whose 
fleet course carried them uninterrupted through that 
portal destined to become one of the world's greatest 
commercial marts. 

Man — civilized, educated man — had not yet asserted 
his dominion over this vast field ; and, within all this 
broad land, a solitude, quiet, calm, and placid, through 
all the long months and years, reigned supreme, broken 
only by the whoop of the savage as he danced to his 
lengthening shadow beneath the tall pine tree. 

From 1769 to 1846, Jesuits, Franciscan friars, Span- 
ish and Mexican adventurers, amidst local revolutions 
and turbulent factions, had ruled and occupied Cali- 
fornia without effecting a permanent civilization or in- 
dustry. Lingering shadows of Spanish superstition, 
crumbling walls of ancient missions, neglected graves, 
fragments of church bells that once, from the branches of 
sturdy oaks, called the red man to the foot of the cross, 
silently proclaimed the departure of a once semi-re- 



38 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

ligious condition. Roving brigands, subsisting upon the 
semi-barbarous inhabitants, and revolutionary outbursts 
from whose leaders issued stdiVtYmg prommcianieiitos, ex- 
hibited the lack of executive authority in the country, 
and the rapid decline of the last vestige of religious, 
social, and national power In the land. To redeem this 
degenerate people, found a new civilization, nationality, 
and freedom, required the quickening Impulses of a 
social and national existence founded upon broader 
and more progressive principles than any yet known 
in the land. 

At this critical period, when jealous monarchs of 
Europe were turning their eyes toward the chaos of 
California and contemplating a new field for American 
imperialism, the flag of the American Republic was 
hoisted over the Mexican territorial capitol at Monte- 
rey, and California entered upon a new era of advance- 
ment. But It required the opening of the treasure 
vaults of the Sierras and the loosening of the golden 
sands of the Yuba to set in motion the long lines of 
pilgrims across vast deserts and over the precipitous 
mountains, and to spread the sails of vast fleets seeking 
a channel through the Golden Gate. It required the cry 
of Gold ! to break the links of the family circle and leave 
in a wreck behind the household gods, as man sought in 
the unfrequented ravines and gulches of the Sierras 
the treasures of the new EI Dorado. The voice came, 
stern and potent, reaching the dwellings of civilized 
men In every corner of the globe ; it echoed in the ears 
of the shrewd Yankee, muscular Celt, vivacious Gaul, 
bearded Turk, stalwart Polander, grim Russian, and 
polite Castillan. It was heard by the turbaned Moslem 
in his harem, the wandering Arab on his pilgrimage to 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 39 

Mecca, the dreamy sons of the Flowery Kingdom as 
they wandered by the waters of the Yang-tse-kiang, or 
bent before Tien-tan to do homage to their prophet. 
The syren song of the -enchantress was caught up by 
every kindred of men, who joined in the cosmopolitan 
throng to seek, by unknown channels, the shores of a 
land whose sands of gold and hidden mountain treas- 
ures, for the first time in the history of nations, had 
•broken the seal of Oriental exclusiveness and brought 
into companionship, in voyages by sea and journeys by 
land, in intercourse of business and trade, the strange 
families of men whose complexions, costumes, and 
tongues startled and confounded each other. 



40 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER II. 

First recorded history — Jesuits — Missions — Cortez* expedition — 
Exploration of the Gulf of California — Ulloa's expedition — 
Cortez returns to Spain — Cabrillo's expedition — Sir Francis 
Drake's expedition: he takes possession of California — New 
Albion — San Diego and Monterey discovered — The Golden Gate 
not yet discovered — Viscayno's voyage — Father Tierra's expedi- 
tion : he takes possession of California in the name of the King 
of Spain — Conversion of the heathen — Father Ugarte's expedi- 
tion — The Jesuits expelled — Franciscan missions established — 
Father Serra's expedition — Dominican friars in California — Voy- 
age of the San Carlos and San Antonio — Loss of the San Jose. 

The first authentic account of California that we 
possess Is derived from the records and writings of 
the early Spanish navigators. These, after having ex- 
plored and settled the greater part of South and Cen- 
tral America, turned their attention to the exploration 
of the coast of Lower and Upper California ; until, 
however, the acquisition of the country by the Ameri- 
can government, in 1846, no permanent settlement had 
been made nor development of the country effected, 
with the exception of a few scattered missions estab- 
lished by the Jesuit priests for the conversion of the 
native population. 

For more than three-quarters of a century previous 
to this period, frequent voyages had been made and 
expeditions fitted out by zealous Spanish adventurers, 
for the purpose of discovering the fabled treasures of 
California, which seemed not to be confined to silver 
and gold, but also to diamonds and other precious 
stones. Each expedition, however, failed either to dis- 
cover the golden treasures of her mountains, or bring 
to light the splendid harbor of San Francisco. 





SIR tRANCIt, IJRAKK A I DRAkL^ BAY (^ALIFURNIA, IN I579 







SPANISH SHIP OF THE SKVKNTEF.NTH CENTURY, OFF THE COAST 
OF CALIFORNIA. 



EXPLORATIONS OF CORTEZ. 



41 



Cortez, who, in 1521, completed the conquest of 
Mexico, turned his attention to the exploration of the 
coast of California. This he did under most unfavorable 
circumstances : he was compelled to build his vessels 
of raw material taken from the forest, and, without 
chart or guide, to explore a coast whose waters had 
hitherto been undisturbed by the navigator's keel. His 
explorations were confined chiefly to the west coast of 
Mexico and the Gulf of California. After many ship- 
wrecks and mutinies of the crews, which rendered his 
explorations abortive, the pilot, Ximines, who had him- 
self been a mutineer, landed, in 1534, on the east side 
of the peninsula of Lower California ; after having sur- 
veyed the coast, he returned with encouraging accounts 
of the land he had discovered. 

Later in the same year, Cortez in person, with four 
vessels, left Tehuantepec to explore further northward. 
He reached Lower California and explored a portion 
of it, his object being to found a Spanish colony; but 
so great were the sufferings of his party, and so hostile 
the Indians, that he soon returned to Mexico, leaving 
his object unaccomplished. 

Still hopeful, however, of making rich discoveries 
toward the north, Cortez, in 1537, fitted out another 
expedition of three vessels under the command of 
Francisco de Ulloa. This officer, after exploring the 
Gulf of California, steered westward round the Cape of 
Lower California, and proceeded north to the twenty- 
ninth degree of latitude. At the end of a year's cruise 
he returned to Mexico with reports of a wretched, bar- 
ren, and inhospitable region, much to the chagrin of 
Cortez, whose dreams of spice islands and of great 
mineral wealth now began to fade away. Three years 



42 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

later Cortez returned to Spain, having bade adieu' to 
the American continent forever. 

In the year 1542, Juan Rodriguiz Cabrillo, by birth a 
Portuguese, but at this period in the service of Spain, 
by directions of Mendoza, Viceroy of Mexico, sailed 
from the western coast of Mexico, on June 27, on a 
voyage of discovery and exploration. He kept his 
course westward along the coast of California to Cape 
Mendoza, (called after the viceroy ; now Cape Men- 
docino,) and returned in the following April to Nati- 
vidad, the place of departure, without having gained 
much knowledge of the countrv. 

Francis Drake (afterwards Sir Francis Drake) sailed 
from England, in his good ship the Golden Hind, to 
make explorations in the Pacific, and, by right of dis- 
covery, add to the possessions of his countrymen. He 
was not aware that, thirty years before, Cabrillo had 
discovered and explored the coast of California. After 
preying upon the Spanish galleons in his track, from 
Magellan's straits to Panama, and robbing them of 
their treasure and precious cargoes, he headed north, 
along the California coast. After having proceeded as 
far north as the southern line of Oreoon, beinp- buffeted 
by northern gales, he was driven south, June, 1579, and 
sought refuge in an inlet near Point Reyes, a short 
distance north of the Golden Gate ; here he remained 
thirty-six days. During this time he took possession 
of the country in the name of the Queen of England, 
(Elizabeth,) calling it New Albion, and erected a monu- 
ment commemorative of his act; upon this was "a 
plate nailed upon a fair great post, whereupon was 
engraven her majesty's name, the day and year of our 
arrival there, with the free giving up of the province 



SIR FRAN-CIS DRAKE IN CALIFORNIA. 43 

and people into her majesty's hands, together with her 
highness' picture and arms in a piece of five pence of 
current English money, under the plate, where under 
was also written the name of our general." Drake 
was not aware that the Spaniard had taken possession 
of the country in the name of his sovereign, and planted 
the cross upon its shores. 

The harbor that Drake entered was for many years 
supposed to be the Bay of San Francisco, but the 
strongest evidence seems to incline against this. The 
harbor in which he lay is in Marin county, a few miles 
north of the Golden Gate, and is still called Drake's 
bay; and in some of the old English histories of his 
discoveries the region of California is called " Drake's 
land back of Canada," and " New Albion." 

After having lain in harbor thirty-six days, Drake set 
sail for England. He went by way of the Philippine 
islands and the Cape of Good Hope, thus making a 
complete circuit of the globe. He was the first navigator 
that ever accomplished such a feat, returning home in 
the same vessel in which he commenced the voyage. 

Philip the III, King of Spain, anxious to retain the 
possession to which he was entitled by discovery, for- 
warded from Madrid to the Viceroy of Mexico in i 596 
orders to explore and take possession of California 
in his name. In accordance with this command, General 
Sebastian Viscayno, in 1 602, sailed from Acapulco with 
three vessels. He pushed his way against the prevailing 
north winds along the west coast of Lower California, 
surveying the ocean and coast as opportunity presented 
itself. On November 10, he reached as far north as the 
harbor of San Diego ; here he lay at anchor ten days. 
Proceeding still north he reached, on the i6th of Decem- 



44 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

ber, 1 602, the Bay of Monterey ; this name he gave it 
in honor of the Count de Monterey, Viceroy of Mexico. 
Viscayno next entered some small inlet in the coast a 
little north of San Francisco, and one of his vessels is 
supposed to have proceeded as far north as the Columbia 
river. But the splendid Bay of San Francisco was not 
entered by him, but to him, as to all the other Spanish 
navigators and Sir Francis Drake, the seal of the Golden 
Gate was still unbroken. 

After this voyage of Viscayno, he went to Spain in 
hope of aid for the further prosecution of his explorations 
in California ; however, although his report of the coun- 
try was most flattering, he did not receive the necessary 
encouragement, and his records, maps, and charts being 
lost or destroyed, all about the expedition was forgotten; 
and, for more than a century and a half after his depart- 
ure, San Diego and Monterey were unvisited. The 
whole country seemed to have passed from the recollec- 
tion of civilized man ; the red man alone was supreme 
in his animal life, hunting the deer and making his acorn 
and grasshopper pie, his shell money and flint-pointed 
arrow, encumbered by neither art nor fashion, other than 
a few feathers stuck in his hair and a few streaks of 
rude paint upon his cheeks and body, and in company 
with his squaw, who, minus chignon, high-heeled boots, 
and hoop-skirt, wandered in dreamy apathy over the 
rugged mountains, amidst the dense forests, through 
the beautiful valleys, and along the murmuring streams. 

On the 25th of October, 1697, we find Salva Tierra, 
with a company of six soldiers and three Indians, pitch- 
ing his tent at the Bay of San Dionysio, a little south 
of San Bruno, Lower California. Tierra was sent by 
the Society of Jesuits on a mission for the spiritual con- 



MISSIONS ESTABLISHED. 45 

quest of California; into this project the Viceroy of 
Mexico and the King of Spain entered with much 
interest, the latter being anxious to have the permanent 
possession of a country of whose riches much had been 
said by visitors. 

In the powers granted to Tierra was added a com- 
mission from the King of Spain, which empowered the 
colonists to enlist soldiers at their own expense, and 
to appoint officers of justice in the new land ; this, how- 
ever, to be without putting the government of Spain to 
any expense, or drawing upon it for funds, without the 
express orders of the King: further, he was to take 
possession of the country and hold it in the name of his 
majesty. At Loreto, on the Bay of San Dionysio, Tierra 
planted his garrison and erected a little chapel ; before 
its door he placed a crucifix, and in the name of the 
King of Spain took formal possession of the country 
on the 25th of October, 1697. 

The Rev. Father Tierra, having established his mis- 
sion, began his work of the conversion of the heathen ; 
he collected them at his little chapel, where, after having 
endeavored to instruct them in the catechism and prayer, 
he fed the inner man with small portions of boiled maize. 
This was so much appreciated that when, on account of 
its scarcity, the pious fathers began to lessen the supply, 
the new converts gathered their tribes from far and 
near and conspired for the murder of the whole mis- 
sionary band, ten only in number. These, however, 
successfully withstood the attack of over five hundred 
savages, and drove them in confusion from the mission. 
The continued kindness of the fathers, and the fact 
that a state of war would deprive them of their new 
luxury, soon drew the Indians around the cross ; and 



46 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the missionary work continued not only to maintain 
its footing but to make its way slowly through the 
peninsula. 

In the year 1 700, by the arrival of Father Ugarte 
from Mexico, a new impetus was added to the labors 
of the missionaries. He settled at St. Xavier, Lower 
California, with the prayers of Mary of Savoy and 
King Philip of Spain, that he might be prospered 
in diffusing Catholicism, accompanying him ; but most 
likely better still than these, the supplies from Mexico, 
furnished by the indefatigable Father Kino, which, with 
the increase of cattle and sheep at the missions, brought 
some apparent success to the cause of the cross, to 
which concurring causes we may also add the habits of 
industry inculcated by Father Tierra on the native 
population. 

All along, from the first discovery of the coast, Cali- 
fornia was supposed to be an island, and on the maps 
and charts was called Islas Carolinas ; and not until 
Father Kino's expedition to the waters of the Colorado 
and across the Gulf of California, in 1 702, was it deter- 
mined that California was not an island, but a part of 
the mainland of the American continent, and that the 
Gulf of California ended at the mouth of the waters of 
the Colorado, leaving the land lying west of it a penin- 
sula. But it required the expedition of Father Ugarte, 
in 1722, to fully settle the question, that the waters of 
the Colorado and the Gulf of California had no outlet 
except between the mainland of Mexico and Lower 
California. This expedition, made by the reverend 
father on board of his rude craft. The Trkwtph of the 
Cross, built on the shores of the Gulf of California for 
this express purpose, was the fullest and most thorough 



EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. 47 

survey of the whole gulf and coast made up to that 
period. 

Up to 1 745, repeated massacres by the Indians, of 
the fathers of the missions, had, at times, almost depopu- 
lated the coast. At this time there were only sixteen 
small missions, all confined to the barren region of the 
peninsula of Lower California; sdll their beacon lights 
and fresh supplies of provisions to the famished and 
scurvied crews of the yearly galleon which, on her 
voyage from the Philippine islands to Panama, visited 
them, was no small part of their usefulness. 

All the labors of piety, and efforts to utilize the native 
population by teaching habits of industry, were carried 
on by the untiring energy and zeal of the Jesuit fathers, 
at a large outlay of labor and money, together with 
sacrifice of comfort : the money was received by dona- 
tions from the friends of the missions in Spain and 
Mexico. But all the labors and sacrifices of the early 
fathers were doomed to destruction. King Charles of 
Spain, jealous of the political influence of the Jesuit 
order throughout his dominions, in i ']6"], issued a decree 
expelling the whole order from his possessions. This 
was speedily executed both in Mexico and California: 
the missions, funds, and all were assigned to the Fran- 
ciscan monks of Mexico, and the Jesuits themselves 
placed under their control, with Father Junipero Serra 
as president. Serra, on the ist day of April, 1768, 
entered Loreto, the capital of the missions on the penin- 
sula, and took formal possession. 

Under the leadership of the energetic Father Serra, 
new life was infused into the missionary establishments 
on the peninsula. But soon another religious Romish 
order — that of the Dominican friars — was granted power 



48 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

by the King of Spain to enter the missionary field at 
the missions already established ; sooner, however, than 
make a division of the labor with a rival organization, 
the Franciscans abandoned the entire field of the penin- 
sula of Lower California, and started westward to found 
new missions and introduce civilization into Upper 
California. 

The expedition, under the new order of things, made 
ample preparations for a permanent settlement. Com- 
panies of soldiers, with muleteers, herds, and flocks, were 
to proceed overland from Lower California, whilst two 
vessels, equipped and provisioned, were to proceed by 
sea as far north at least as San Diego. 

About this time a new order was received in Mexico 
by the Vicar-general, from the King of Spain, to make 
a settlement at San Diego, and possess and hold the 
country. On this new enterprise, headed by Father 
Junipero Serra, the Saji Carlos, the first of the two ves- 
sels, commanded by Don Vicente Vilal, with sixty-two 
persons on board, sailed from Cape St. Lucas, Lower 
California, on the 9th of January, 1769, for San Diego. 
She was followed, on the 15 th of the same month, by 
the San Antonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez ; and, 
on the 1 6th of June, the Sail Jose sailed from Loreto. 
After nearly a four months voyage, the San Carlos, on 
the I St day of May, arrived at San Diego ; on the nth 
day of April following, the San Antonio arrived at the 
same port, after a most perilous voyage and the loss of 
several of the crew by scurvy ; but the ill-fated Sa7t 
jfose, after leaving Loreto, was never heard of. 




THE GOLDEN GATE AND BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO, 1 769. 
(City of San Francisco built where the Deer arej 




MONTGOMERY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, 1 849. 



DON FORTALA'S EXPEDITION: 49 



CHAPTER III. 

j&on Portala's expedition — First settlement establislied — Father 
Serra at San Diego — First chapel built — Discovery of the Bay of 
San Francisco — Founding of missions — San Carlos the first vessel 
that entered the Golden Gate — Native civilization — Spain and 
the Franciscan fathers — Wealth of the missions — Independence of 
Mexico — Government of California — Manumission of the Indians 
— Property of the missions confiscated — Departure of the fathers. 

Don Caspar Portala, Governor of Lower California 
in 1769, took command of one division of die overland 
expedition. This was intended to proceed from Lower 
California, advance northward as far as practicable, 
plant the cross, and establish the dominion of his majesty, 
the King of Spain. A second division was headed by 
Don Fernando Riveray Moncada. Father Crespi was 
in this division, which was composed of soldiers, mule- 
teers, and Indians. These had with them two hundred 
head of cattle, and a number of horses and mules. On 
the 24th of March, 1769, they started from Villacata, 
Lower California; and, on the 14th day of May following, 
arrived at San Diego, where they, on the ist day of 
July, 1769, established the first white settlement and 
mission In what is now the State of California. 

In May, 1769, Governor Portala, with Father Junl- 
pero Serra and the second division of the overland 
expedition, left Lower California, and, after a journey 
of forty-six days, at the head of his expedition, arrived 
at San Diego on the ist day of July, 1769. Great 
rejoicings and demonstrations ensued ; the vessels dis- 
charged their guns, the soldiers their muskets, to cele- 
brate the final meeting of the four divisions of this first 



50 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

expedition to permanently plant white settlements and 
establish civilization in Upper California. In a few days 
a mission was founded, a cross planted, a chapel built, 
a priest selected to preside, a patron saint named, the 
ground blessed and sprinkled with holy water, and 
every thing was made ready for the conversion of the 
heathen. 

On the 14th day of July, 1769, Governor Portala 
started with a new expedition from San Diego to dis- 
cover the Bay of Monterey and establish a mission. 
Priests, soldiers, muleteers, and Indians — in all, sixty- 
five — with provisions and pack-trains, set out on their 
northward journey. At Monterey they halted and 
planted a cross, but, not satisfied that it was the place 
of which they were in search, they proceeded still 
northward; and, on the 25th of October, 1769, came 
in sight of the sand-hills of the peninsula of San Fran- 
cisco, with its beautiful bay stretching north and south 
a hundred miles, landlocked upon all sides save at the 
narrow entrance of the Golden Gate on the west. This 
is one of the finest harbors in the world, being sur- 
passed only by that most beautiful sheet of water and 
harbor in Washington Territory, Puget sound. 

To Governor Gaspar De Portala, then, must be 
awarded the honor of the discovery of the Bay of San 
Francisco and not to Sir Francis Drake: he, as we 
know from the best authority, never saw it; neither 
can it be assigned to Father Junipero Serra, who, with 
other missionaries, remained at San Diego during Port- 
ala's journey to San Francisco. Six years elapsed, after 
Portala's discovery, before Serra first beheld the Bay 
of San Francisco. This fact is well established by the 
writings of Father Palou, who kept the records of the 



BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO DISCOVERED. 



51 



missions at this period. Nor can the honor of its dis- 
covery be awarded to Friar Juan Crispi, who accompa- 
nied Portala. Portala named the harbor, after the 
founder of his monastic order, (Saint Francis,) San 
Francisco. 

In about six months after Portala's discovery of the 
Bay of San Francisco, he and his party returned to San 
Diego. A mission was not founded at San Francisco 
for more than six years after. Father Portala having 
returned to Mexico, Father Junipero Serra was com- 
missioned president of all the missions in Upper Cal- 
ifornia. Under his directions, the missions at San 
Francisco were founded by Friars Francisco Palou and 
Bonito Cambou on the 9th day of October, 1776. 
Father Junipero Serra did not, as some have written, 
found the missions at San Francisco. Once only dur- 
ing his stay in California did he visit San Francisco ; 
the period of his stay was short, extending from the 
I St to the loth of October, 1777. 

Two years previous to this, in so far as is positively 
known, no keel of a vessel had ever ruffled the waters 
of the Golden Gate. This honor was reserved for the 
San Carlos. This ship, in June, 1775, entered the 
spacious harbor and explored the bay in all directions. 
She had been despatched from the lower countr)^ for the 
purpose of exploring the Bay of San Francisco, which 
had been discovered by land, and also for the purpose 
of seeing if it could be entered by the mouth or chan- 
nel which Portala declared he had discovered on his 
visit in 1769. 

The party which had founded the missions at San 
Francisco left Monterey (where a mission had been 
founded on the 3d of June, 1770) for that purpose 



52 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



on the 17th of June, 1776; and, travelling overland, 
reached the Bay of San Francisco on the 27th of the 
same month, and founded the missions as already 
stated. 

With increasing supplies of provisions, seeds, cattle, 
horses, and sheep, the missionary fathers entered upon 
the holy work of the red man's conversion. This was 
the sixth mission, up to this period, founded in Cali- 
fornia. From this time until the year 1800 — a period 
of twenty- four years — the fathers labored with great 
zeal and industry, and were able to report eighteen 
missions established and 647 savages converted to the 
cause of Christianity: how far, is not stated. With a 
stock on hand of 7,080 neat cattle, 6,238 sheep, 1,000 
horses, and more than 5,000 bushels of grain raised 
per annum, matters seemed prosperous. 

In the year 1802, the eighteen missions had an aggre- 
gate population of 15,562 — 7,945 males and 7,617 fe- 
males. This of course included (besides the priests, 
soldiers, and Spanish) the Indians attendant at the 
churches, and supposed to be civilized. These mis- 
sions were at the following places, and founded at the 
subjoined dates, and in the order following: San Diego, 
July 16, 1769; San Carlos de Monterey, June 3, 1770; 
San Antonia de Padua, July 14, 1771; San Gabriel, 
September 8, 1771 ; San Louis Obispo, September i, 
1772; San Francisco, October 9, 1776; San Juan Capis- 
trano, November i, 1776; Santa Clara, January 18, 
1777 ; San Buenaventura, March 31, 1782 ; Santa Bar- 
bara, December 4, 1786; La Purisima Concepclon, 
December 8, 1787; Santa Cruz, August 28, 1791; 
Soledad, October 9, 1791; San Jose, June 11, 1797; 
San Juan Bautista, June 24, 1797; San Miguel, July 




f'-~y-\. 



MISSION OF SANTA BARBARA, 



CALIFORNIA, FOUNDED IN I7S6. 




FATHER GARZES 



AND THE INDIANS IN CALIFORNIA, IN 1775- 



FOUiVDIiVG OF JESUIT M/SS/OA'S. 53 

25> 1797 ; San Fernando Rey, September 8, 1797 ; San 
Louis Rey de Francia, June 13, 1798; San Inez, Sep- 
tember 17, 1804; San Rafael, December 14, 181 9; and 
San Francisco de Solano, August 25, 1823: making in 
all twenty-one, up to the year 1823. 

For the protection of the missions, military posts or 
presidios were established : one at each of the following 
places : San Diego, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and San 
Francisco. These enclosures were surrounded by 
adobe walls, nearly twelve feet in height, with chapel, 
officers' quarters, barracks, store-houses, &c. Little 
encouragement was given to colonization, and the 
priesfs watched officers and soldiers, none of whom 
were allowed to marry without a license from the King 
of Spain, which the fathers took good care was not too 
often granted. With the fathers the Indians seemed 
to be the great centre of attraction : they were a race 
who submitted unreservedly to their spiritual and 
temporal domination. They were good blacksmiths, 
farmers, tanners, weavers, soap-makers, herders of 
flocks, and tillers of the soil; and, under the leadership 
of their masters, had raised the missions to positions 
of importance, and the fathers themselves to opulence 
and power. 

Whilst the fathers discouraged by all means the 
immigration of white settlers into California, and pro- 
hibited those under their control from marrying, they 
most anxiously desired to cultivate amicable and even 
conjugal relations between the Spaniards and Indians. 
As evidence of this we find that the first grant of land 
made in California was to Manuel Burton, a Spanish 
soldier, on November 27, 1775, for leading to the altar 
as his wife a native convert woman. 



54 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

But all the precautions and teachings of the fathers 
were unavailing to raise the native Californian above 
the docile, half-idiotic wretch, who, destitute of ambition, 
hoped or thought of nothing beyond a supply of food to 
fill his ever-craving stomach; and so soon as the influ- 
ence, care, and protection of his master were withdrawn, 
he relapsed Into his native bestiality, forsook the corn- 
field and the loom, and returned to scour the shores 
for dead whales on which to gorge himself, or to roam 
upon arid plains to fatten upon acorns and grasshopper 
pie. 

Conflicts and jealousies between the fathers and the 
military commanders of the presidios caused the Vice- 
roy of Mexico to define their powers In 1773. The 
fates, however, seemed to have decreed the downfall of 
the missions, which occupied the fairest portion of the 
world, and whose rulers, having relapsed from their 
pristine energy and zeal, were leading a lazy, semi- 
barbarous life In superstition and apathy to earthly and 
heavenly things. 

Spain already possessed by discover}^ and occupation 
the vast region of the American continent from Magel- 
lan's straits to the Columbia. The king became jeal- 
ous of the power and Influence of the missions, and 
determined on their suppression. 

A long calm seemed now to hang over California, 
during which thci Franciscan friars were complete sover- 
eigns of the land. With the Increase of flocks and 
luscious wines they grew lusty of body, easy of gait, 
docile in temper, mechanical In prayer, and moderate 
in zeal ; and in their case, as In that of most other 
mortals, good dinners, well washed down with red wine, 
tended to abate the fervor of their devotion, and led 



END OF SPANISH RULE IN CALIFORNIA. 55 

their thoughts and actions toward the precious metals 
and gross things of earth. Accordingly we find that 
they, in 1835, shortly before their abandonment of the 
country, raised large crops of wheat, maize, barley, 
beans, grapes, and other products, amounting to more 
than one hundred thousand dollars per annum; this, too, 
at the very low prices of those times. We find them also 
in the possession of 216,727 horned cattle, 32,201 horses, 
2,844 mules, 177 asses, 153,455 sheep, 1,873 goats, and 
839 swine. Indeed, one of the fathers, Louis Martinez, 
is said to have taken to Spain with him when he left the 
country more than one hundred thousand dollars in 
treasure. Even all this wealth is supposed to be less 
than half of what the fathers possessed about the year 
1822, before the Mexican authorities attempted to con- 
fiscate their property. The fostering care of the Span- 
ish government and the Viceroy of Mexico, together 
with the contributions of the friends of religion, had 
lent character and power to the missions of California, 
and had swelled " the piotis ftmd of California " to 
respectable proportions. 

But all this power, splendor, and missionary labor 
were dashed to the ground by the fall of Spanish rule in 
Mexico ; for, on the achievement of the independence of 
Mexico, in 1822, radical changes were wrought, both in 
the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the country. The 
new empire not only laid claim to that vast territory 
then known as Mexico, but also to that limitless and 
undefined country so long claimed and partly settled 
by Spanish adventure — California. When Mexico be- 
came a republic, in 1824, this whole country was erected 
into a Mexican Territor}^, with a representative in 



56 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Congress, and military commandant at Monterey, the 
capital. The powers of the Franciscan fathers in Cali- 
fornia were soon curtailed by the Mexican Congress. 
In 1826, that body proclaimed the manumission of all 
the civilized Indians in California, with a division of the 
country into parishes, and allotments of land for the 
Indians. This measure, together with a failure on the 
part of Mexico to pay the allowances of the fathers, 
and the decline of the "• pious fund of Calfonda,'' caused 
missionary labors to decline. The Indians relapsed 
into their former barbarism, squandered their means, 
and became nude savages. The political party in 
power in the early part of 1833 passed laws confiscat- 
ing the lands and property of the missions. These 
were subsequently revoked by Santa Anna, who came 
into power in the same year. By the sad and fluctu- 
atine chanofes of administration in Mexico down to the 
year 1845, the missions and fathers were embarrassed 
and harassed by acts of confiscation and abridgment 
of powers. In 1845 came the final blow: many of the 
missions were sold at auction ; others were rented, the 
rents to be divided into three funds — one-third to go to 
the missionaries, a third to a pious fiuid of California 
for charitable and educational purposes, and a third to 
the support of the civilized Indians. The fathers re- 
turned either to Mexico or Spain; and, in a brief period 
from this, the once powerful missions of California, 
their pious priests and praying Indians, were known 
only as things of the past ; and to-day no trace of their 
former presence is to be seen in the whole land, except 
an occasional dilapidated and crumbling adobe wall, the 
fragments of some cathedral bell, the declining cross as 



END OF MISSIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 57 

it droops in melancholy solitude in the midst of the 
buried dead, whose histor}^ like their mortal remains, 
is wrapped in its narrow grave beneath the rank grass 
and wild brier. 

California, under tne absolute rule of Spain for fifty 
years and under the i*ule of Mexico for twenty-four 
years, made but little progress either in material, social, 
or moral development; and, at the time when it fell 
into the possession of the United States, was almost as 
unknown, uninhabited, and undeveloped as it was when 
Cortez first attempted its exploration in the sixteenth 
century. 



5$ THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Republican government in Mexico — American flag hoisted at Mon- 
terey — France and England seek to possess California — De 
Mofra's explorations — Russians in California — Revolution: a 
Yankee in it — Monterey captured by Alvarado and Graham — 
California declared a free State — Vallejo military chief — Religion 
established by law — Mexican authority again recognized — Graham 
and others banished — Commodore Jones declares California a 
part of the United States in 1S42 — Revolution of 1844 — Castro 
General-in-chief — Banishment of Governor Micheltorena. 

With the dawn of republican government in Mexico 
commenced a new era of importance in California. The 
rule of Spain was forever annihilated in the western 
provinces, and this was heartily acquiesced in by the 
Spanish inhabitants in California. One of the first acts 
of the Congress of the Mexican republic was the passing 
of laws encouraging immigration into their western ter- 
ritory, so that, simultaneously with the decline and dis- 
appearance of the Franciscan fathers and their missions, 
the settlement of the country by Mexican immigrants 
and a few wandering foreigners was begun. The latter 
class consisted chiefly of seafaring men, who settled 
about the ports and bays, and straggling seamen who 
left the ships which occasionally touched at the ports 
along the coast, and of one or two solitary merchants. 
This portion of the new population was regarded with 
a jealous eye by the Mexican and Spanish setders. 
The class, however, which engaged the special attention 
and roused the jealousy of the native population con- 
sisted of the few Americans now settling in the country. 

California, although distant from the seat of American 
and European civilization and political strife, was not 



RUSSIAN COLONY IN CALIFORNIA. 59 

tranquil nor entirely unknown previous to this period. 
Repeated outbreaks among the native and immigrant 
population kept pace with the ever turbulent state of 
affairs in Mexico ; and, besides, many foreign nations 
had longed for her possession. France had an eye 
upon this distant land, and, regardless of the claims of 
Spain or the assumption of England, despatched, in 
1 841, from the French legation in Mexico, M. Duflot de 
Mofras, a scientific and accomplished gentleman, to 
make explorations in California. For two years De 
Mofras having occupied himself in the work of investi- 
gation, sent to his government a detailed account of 
the country, the Bay of San Francisco, the political con- 
dition of California, the designs of Europe and the 
United States upon it, and concluded it with the follow- 
ing statement, " That it is perfectly clear that California 
will belono- to whatsoever nation will take the trouble 
to send there a ship of war and two hundred soldiers." 
For a brief period the Russians had a feeble foothold 
in California; but it is doubtful if they ever had any 
intention to subjugate it or permanently settle in it. 
Those who came to it came to supply with agricultural 
products the Russian American Fur Company in the 
cold regions of the northwest. In 1 8 1 2, they established 
themselves at Bodega bay, in Sonoma county, about sixty 
miles north of San Francisco. A few years later, they 
established another small settlement thirty miles north 
of Bodega, at a place called Ross. At these places they 
kept up small establishments and forts, to protect them- 
selves both from the Spanish settlers and the Indians. 
The former always manifested the greatest jealousy and 
dislike toward them. After an occupation of thirty 
years, they, in 1841, sold their property and left the 



Co ' THE GOLDEN STATE. 

country. Of Russians there were about eight hundred, 
and a large number of Kodiak Indians ; all of whom 
souQrht their homes in the far-off northern climes, turn- 
ing their backs on the sunny land where they had 
trapped the beaver and the otter, and worshipped before 
the cross of the rude Greek church. 

About the year 1836, jealousies springing up between 
the Mexican authorities in the territory, the monotony 
of affairs was disturbed, and occasionally a revolution 
broke out. A serious misunderstanding had existed 
between Angel Ramirez, a Mexican, and chief official 
of customs, and Juan Bautista Alvarado, second officer, 
and a native of California of Spanish descent. Alva- 
rado's arrest being ordered by Ramirez, he fled, and 
found refugfe in the cabin of Isaac Graham, in the moun- 
tains of Santa Cruz. Graham had many years previously 
wandered across the Rocky mountains as a trapper, and 
had pitched his tent here. He was a Yankee — at least 
an American, from the State of Tennessee ; and, being 
ripe for adventure, on hearing of Alvarado's wrongs, 
in conjunction with him he concocted a scheme for the 
overthrow of Mexican authority in California, and the 
proclaiming of California a free and independent State. 
In a few days, Graham, at the head of a force of fifty 
riflemen, and Alvarado and Jose Castro, with one hun- 
dred native Californians, started upon their mission, 
supplied with ammunition from American vessels on 
the coast. They by night entered Monterey, the capital 
of the Territory, seized and made prisoner the Governor, 
Nicolas Gutierrez, and with him two or three hundred sol- 
diers. Gutierrez at first made some show of resistance; 
but the crash through the roof of the presidio building 
of a four-pound shot soon brought him to his senses. 



REVOLUTIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 6 1 

He surrendered what he could no longer keep. This 
was, indeed, the only shot fired during the revolution. 

Alvarado and Castro were now in undisturbed pos- 
session of the capital. California was declared a free 
and independent State, with Alvarado at the head of 
civil and Guadalupe Vallejo at the head of military 
affairs. The Mexican Governor, Gutierrez, with all the 
Mexican officers and soldiers in California, was banished, 
a republican government established, and the Catholic 
religion secured by prohibiting the exercise of any other 
form of worship. 

Alvarado, after meeting with some opposition to his 
rule from a portion of the native Californians, was 
recognized, and appointed Governor of California, by 
the Mexican orovernment ; and California havine ag-ain 
submitted to Mexican rule, was divided into two dis- 
tricts with territorial governments, Senor Pena being 
prefect of the south and Jose Castro of the north. 
Alvarado held his position as governor until 1842. 

Graham and the other foreigners who had assisted 
in elevating Alvarado to power, having by this time 
become obnoxious to him, were arrested and sent as 
prisoners, some to Monterey and Santa Barbara, and 
the most dangerous to Mexico. This event was cele- 
brated by a solemn mass and great rejoicings, the 
prospect of being rid of the adventurous foreigners and 
the dangerous Yankees being so encouraging. But 
Alvarado's treachery in this matter failed to accomplish 
its object; for, in July, 1842, the exiles returned to 
Monterey on board of a Mexican vessel, at government 
expense. For this they were indebted to the kind and 
noble efforts of the English consul and other foreign 
dignitaries in Mexico. 



62 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Dissensions were now rife between the civil and 
military authorities in California, and in August, 1842, 
General Manuel Micheltorena arrived at San Diego 
from Mexico, with full powers from the government to 
supersede Vallejo in the military and Alvarado in the 
civil affairs of California. Micheltorena was received 
by the people with great rejoicing: bull-fights, fandan- 
gos, and other entertainments attested the joy of the 
populace. But, in the midst of their festivities, all was 
brought to a standstill : the irrepressible Yankee had 
entered upon a new role in California. Commodore 
Jones, of the United States navy, having been hovering 
about the coast of California, learned in some way that 
difficulties existed between the United States and 
Mexico with reference to Texas, which difficulties were 
likely to lead to the annexation of Texas and California, 
if not of Mexico itself The gallant commodore, believ- 
ing that it was the desire of his government, with the 
United States frigate United States and sloop-of-war 
Cyane, on the 19th of October, 1842, entered the port 
of Monterey, hoisted the stars and stripes, took posses- 
sion of the capitol, and proclaimed California a part of 
the American republic. Alvarado, who had not yet 
been displaced by Micheltorena, surrendered to Jones 
on the following day. Jones' authority, however, was 
brief; for, on the day after the surrender, having had 
information which led him to believe that his acts were 
premature, and not in conformity with the wishes of 
his government, he hauled down his banners and quietly 
departed, having offered apologies for his intrusion. 
The new commandant. General Micheltorena, thereupon 
entered upon his duties unopposed. 

But difficulties were not yet ended. General Vallejo 



END OF MEXICAN RULE IN CALIFORNIA. (^2) 

and Governor Alvarado being now deposed, having 
been bitterest enemies, became firm friends, and with 
General Castro entered upon a new enterprise, into 
driving Micheltorena out of the countiy. All the ammu- 
nition of the government was stored at San Juan: upon 
this point the attention of the new revolutionists was 
directed. In November, 1844, Castro entered the town, 
captured the mission and the government ammunition. 
The governor afforded the rebels eight days grace in 
which to disband and surrender to his authority ; but 
the rebels, regardless of this courtesy on the part of 
Micheltorena, marched upon the capital. The Mexican 
military force in the territory was small ; and Michel- 
torena, fearing defeat, called for aid from John A. 
Sutter, who had been a foreign resident of the country 
ever since 1839. Sutter responded, and with one hun- 
dred mounted men, mostly foreigners, hurried to the 
rescue. Castro at the head of the rebel band, on the 
2ist of July, 1845, rnet the government forces a short 
distance from Los Angeles, where an engagement 
took place lasting two days, resulting in the killing of 
four persons and the unconditional surrender of the 
government forces. 

Once more California was an independent country. 
The champion of the conquest. General Castro, was 
now General-in-chief ; and Pio Pico, Governor. Michel- 
torena, together with his officers and soldiers, were 
shipped to San Bias on board of an American vessel ; 
and Mexican rule ended in California, as the like fate 
befell the rule of Pico and Castro, as will appear in the 
succeeding chapter of this volume. 



64 THE GOLDEN STATE, 



CHAPTER V. 

Early navigators — Voyage of Sir Francis Drake — Voyages of Sebas- 
tian Viscayno and Vistus Behring — Settlement of Sitka — King 
George's Sound Company — East India Company — Tliomas 
Jefferson's interest in the Pacific coast — Expedition of John 
Ledyard : he is arrested by order of the Empress of Russia — 
Voyage of Vancouver — The King of Spain forbids Captain Cook 
to enter California — First American vessels on the Pacific coast — 
Captain Gray discovers the Columbia river — First American ves- 
sel enters the Bay of San Francisco — John Brown and Thomas 
Raben first Americans in California — Trade to the Columbia 
river — Count Rosanoff in California — Delia Byrd enters San 
Diego — Russians evacuate California at the request of the United 
States — Expedition of Lewis and Clark — First settlement in 
Oregon — John Jacob Astor founds Astoria — Fur trade of Ore- 
gon — The British take possession of Oregon — Its restoration to 
the United States — Astor's fur trade in the Rocky mountains — 
First overland journey to California — Arrest of Jedediah Smith — 
Letter from American seamen in 1826 — Letter from Smith to one 
of the fathers — Death of J. S. Smith — Pattie's expedition — 
Asiatic emigration encouraged — First settlers in California — First 
mercantile house in California — Commodore Wilkes' expedition 
to the Pacific — Discovery of a wrecked Japanese junk — Fre- 
mont's explorations — Sutter's hospitality — End of Fremont's 
second exi:)loration. 

The period which elapsed from the first Anglo-Saxon 
voyages to the Pacific coast to the discovery of gold 
forms one of the most interesting chapters in our his- 
tory. The solitude and primitive order of the vast 
territory of Alaska, Washington Territory, Oregon, and 
California were unbroken, save by an occasional adven- 
turer ; and California was as little known to the world 
as the fabled garden of Eden. 

Among those who broke the seal of its primitive 
obscurity on our coast was Sir Francis Drake, who, in 
1558, made a voyage to California in the course of his 
explorations in the Pacific ; also General Sebastian 



EARL V EXPL OR A TIONS. 65 

Viscayno, who, under orders of Philip III of Spain, ex- 
plored California in 1803, where at Point Reyes he dis- 
covered the wreck of Sebastian Cermenon's vessel, 
stranded in 1595 on her voyage from Manilla to Aca- 
piilco ; and Vistus Behring, a Dane, who was employed 
by Catharine of Russia to make explorations in the 
North Pacific and on the coasts of Asia and America. 

The founding- of Sitka, in 1805, by the Russian 
American Fur Company, which was organized in 1 799, 
and the founding of the King George's Sound Com- 
pany, organized in London in 1784, with the object of 
making settlements on the Pacific coast, aided much in. 
developing the country. Between the years 1 784 and 
1 790 the East India Company (English) had despatched 
several ships to this coast. Thomas Jefferson, acting 
United States minister in France in 1785, took a lively 
interest in matters pertaining to the Pacific coast. A 
Connecticut Yankee, named John Ledyard, who accom- 
panied the famous English navigator. Captain Cook, 
on his last voyage to the Pacific, conceived the Idea of 
exploring the west coast of America. After several 
ineffectual efforts to secure aid either from the United 
States Congress or the British government, he went to 
France and had an interview with Thomas Jefferson, 
then United States minister in that country, at whose 
suggestion he undertook a journey across the country 
to Kamtschatka, thence by sea to Nootka sound or 
some other point on the west coast of America, thence 
overland to the Atlantic States. Permission was ob- 
tained from the Empress of Russia for Ledyard to pass 
through her dominions. He proceeded as far as Ir- 
koutsk, in Siberia, on his way to Okhotsk, where he 
designed to take passage for the American continent. 



66 THE GOLDEN STATE 

Here he was, on the 24th of February, 1 788, arrested 
by order of the Empress of Russia. After being con- 
veyed to the frontier of Poland, he was released, with 
the injunction never again to set his foot upon Russian 
territory. Ledyard soon undertook an expedition to 
explore the source of the Nile ; and died at Cairo in 
Egypt, November 15, 1788 

The English navigator Vancouver, who visited the 
coast in 1 793, and spent some time in the Bay of Mon- 
terey, contrary to Spanish custom, at least on the 
Pacific, met with a kind reception and received courte- 
ous attentions from the Spanish authorities at that place. 

The jealousy of the Spanish toward all foreign inter- 
course was manifest upon all occasions. The Viceroy 
of Mexico, on the 23d of October, 1776, wrote to the 
Governor of California as follows : " That the king, hav- 
ing received intelligence that two armed vessels had 
sailed from London, under the command of Captain 
Cook, bound on a voyage of discovery to the southern 
ocean and the northern coast of California, commands 
that orders be given to the Governor of California to 
be on the watch for Captain Cook, and not permit him 
to enter the ports of California." 

Yankee enterprise was seeking wider fields for its 
operations, and the Pacific was attracting attention. In 
the summer of 1787, Messrs. Barrell, Bulfinch & Co., 
merchants, of Boston, Mass., fitted out two vessels and 
despatched them to the Pacific, with directions to pro- 
ceed as far north as King George's sound. One of 
these vessels, the Washington, ninety tons, was com- 
manded by Captain Robert Gray ; the other, the Co- 
lumbia, two hundred tons, was commanded by Captain 
John Kendrick. A resolution had previously passed 



EARLY VOYAGERS. 67 

Congress that these vessels be granted sea letters of 
safety by the Federal government, which was done ; 
besides this, the State of Massachusetts issued pass- 
ports to them, and letters from the Spanish minister in 
the United States was obtained, introducing the cap- 
tains to the Spanish officials on the Pacific coast, which 
latter accounts for Governor Pages' letter to the com- 
mandant at the presidio of San Francisco, wherein we 
have the first mention of an American vessel on the 
Pacific coast. Both vessels left Boston on the 30th 
day of September, 1787; and on the 17th of Septem- 
ber, I 'jZZ, the Washington reached Nootka sound, and 
in a few days the Columbia arrived at the same place. 
Captain Gray subsequently commanded the Columbia, 
and on board of her discovered the Columbia river. 
Among other articles on board these vessels, intended 
for trafficking with the natives of the Pacific coast, was 
a quantity of copper coins, issued by the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts ; some of which were discovered half 
a century later among the natives on the coast. 

Followinof is a letter from the Governor of California 
to the commandant of the presidio at San Francisco, 
respecting the Washingtoii and Columbia : 

"Whenever there may arrive at the port of San Francisco a ship 
named the Columbia, said to belong to General Washington, of the 
American States, commanded by John Kendrick, which sailed from 
Boston in September, 1787, bound on a voyage of discovery to the 
Russian establishments on the northern coast of this peninsula, you 
will cause the said vessel to be examined with caution and delicacy, 
using for this purpose a small boat which you have in your posses- 
sion, and taking the same measures with every other suspicious 
foreign vessel, giving me prompt notice of the same. 

" May God preserve your life many years. 

"Pedro Faces. 
"Santa Barbara, May 13, 1789. 
" To Josef Arguello." 



68 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The ship Cohimbia alluded to was now under com- 
mand of Captain Robert Gray, which sailed upon a 
second voyage in search of traffic among the natives, 
and arrived at the Straits of Fuca, June 5, 1 791. Cap- 
tain Gray, on his expedition, in trading down the coast 
with the natives, on the 7th of May, 1792, three years 
after the mention made of him by Governor Pages of 
California, discovered and entered the Columbia river, 
to which he gave its name, after his ship, which was the 
first vessel that ever entered that river, and from which 
Gray set sail homeward on May 20, 1792. Captain 
Gray, with reports of his discovery and a valuable 
cargo of furs, returned to Boston, without touching at 
any of the ports of California. 

Expeditions from Boston were soon inaugurated for 
settlement and trade upon the Columbia ; and from this 
period American vessels, at intervals, visited the coast, 
but their trade was chiefly confined to the Columbia 
river and the distant whale-grounds in the North 
Pacific. 

Jose Argiiello, the commandant of the presidio of 
San Prancisco, on the 26th of August, 1803, writes to 
Governor Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga as follows : 

*' That, on the first of the present month, at the hour of evening 
prayers, two American vessels anchored in the port, (San Francisco,) 
one named the Alexander, under the command of Captain John 
Brown, and the other, named the Aser, under the command of 
Thomas Raben \ that, as soon as they anchored, the captain came 
ashore to ask permission to get supplies of wood and water, when, 
observing that he was the same Brown that was there in the preced- 
ing month of March, he refused to give him permission to remain 
in port ; that, on the day following, at six in the morning, he 
received a letter from the captain, (or supercargo,) a copy of which 
he transmits, which is as follows : 



DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 69 

J 

"Port of San Francisco, August 12, 1803. 
*'To the Senor Commandante of the port . • 

"Notwithstanding your order for our immediate departure from 
this port, I am constrained to say that our necessities are such as to 
render it impossible for us to do so. I would esteem it a great 
favor if you would come aboard and see for yourself the needy cir- 
cumstances in which we are placed ; for, during the whole of the 
time we have been on the northwest coast, we have had no oppor- 
tunity of supplying ourselves with wood and water, the Indians 
being so savage that we have not been able to hold any kind of 
friendly intercourse with them whatever." 

The letter continues at considerable length, detailing 
a long cruise of the vessels upon the northwest coast 
with several encounters with Indians, After detailing 
the reports of the capture of the ship Boston by the 
Indian chief Quatlazape, on his travels through the 
Straits of Juan de Fuca, the massacre of all the crew 
save two, and the beaching and burning of the vessel, 
it concludes as follows : 

"This is all the account I am able to give of the matter, and I' 
pray you, in the name of God, to come aboard our ship and see 
the needy circumstances in which we are placed, destitute of wood 
and water, and our vessel needing repairs. Trusting in your Chris- 
tian charity, and that of your nation, we hope to be permitted to 
remain in this port the time necessary to obtain supplies and make 
repairs, since otherwise we shall certainly lose our ship. 

" God preserve your life many years. 

"James Rowan." 

After the discovery of the Columbia by Captain Gray, 
the next vessel that entered that river is supposed to 
have been the brig yennet, Captain Parker, of Bristol, 
Rhode Island, in the summer of 1792. On the 20th of 
October of this year, the Chatham, of the British navy, 
commanded by Captain Broughton, entered the Co- 
lumbia and explored it in small boats, leaving on the 



70 THE GOLDEN- STATE. 

loth of November following. From this period until 
1805, twelve vessels had entered the Columbia river, 
all of which were fitted out and sailed from Boston, 
except one, the Jimo, of Bristol, Rhode Island. 

As early as March 14, 1803, the brig Delia Byi^d, 
Captain Cleveland, of Salem, Mass., arrived at San 
Diego ; and, in 1807, the ship Jujio, already mentioned, 
having been sold to the Russians at Sitka, entered the 
Golden Gate, having on board the Russian ambassador 
to Japan, Count Von Resanoff. While in California, 
the count was so delighted with the country that he 
arranged for the founding of a Russian settlement at 
Bodega bay, in Sonoma county. This location was 
made in 181 2; and, in 1820, another settlement was 
established at Fort Ross, in the same county. The 
Russians had subsequently a settlement also on the 
Farallones ; but Count Resanoff never returned to 
California, being accidentally killed in Siberia by a fall 
from his horse. 

The English government, desiring to acquire Cali- 
fornia, offered serious objections to the Russian settle- 
ments in it ; and the Mexican authorities, fearing that 
they did not possess the ability to dislodge them from 
the formidable forts, appealed to the United States 
government to request their removal, in compliance 
with the treaty stipulations of April, 1824, between 
Russia and the United States, that the former would 
not permit her subjects to make settlements south of 
latitude 50° 40' on the Pacific. Uncle Sam came to the 
rescue ; made a demand that the Russians evacuate ; 
and in 1841 the imperial eagles of the Czar took their 
flight northward to Alaska. One of the brass guns of 
the Russian company in California is now in the pos- 



VOYAGERS AND EXPLORERS. 7 1 

session of the Pioneer Society in San Francisco ; others, 
with other property, were sold to Captain Sutter on 
the departure of the company, and the remainder were 
included in Seward's recent purchase of the Czar's pos- 
sessions in North America. 

Perkins, Lamb & Co., and Lyman & Co., of Boston, 
were the principal parties in fitting out vessels for the 
early traffic on the northwest coast. The expedition 
of Lewis and Clark, under the direction of President 
Jefferson, to explore the Columbia, which left the At- 
lantic side in 1804, arrived at the Columbia, November 
15, 1805 ; and in March, 1806, started on their home- 
ward march, to report to their government the result 
of their expedition. 

During the years 1806-9, ten vessels, fitted out from 
Boston by the enterprising firms of Thomas Lyman, 
Perkins, Lamb & Co., and Lyman & Co., entered the 
Columbia; and, in 18 10, the Albatross, from Boston, 
Captain T. Winship, entered the Columbia. The cap- 
tain located a post, and planted a garden, at Oak Point, 
on the Columbia. This was the first settlement made 
in Oregon. 

In this year a new stimulus was given to the com- 
mercial interests of the Pacific coast. John Jacob 
Astor, of New York, in connection with Wilson P. 
Hunt, of New Jersey, and others, organized the Pacific 
Fur Company. In September, 18 10, the ship Tonquin, 
with the stores, officers, employes, &c., of this company, 
sailed from New York, and arrived at the Columbia on 
the 24th of March, 181 1, and established themselves on 
the southern bank near the mouth, which they named, 
after the founder of the company, Astoria. Astor and 
Hunt admitted into the company Messrs. McDougal, 



72 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

McKay, and Robert and David Stewart, who, at the 
head of eleven clerks, thirteen Canadian voyagers, and 
five mechanics, entered upon a most lively and profita- 
ble fur-trade. A garden was planted, started by plant- 
ing twelve potatoes, (all they had,) and an American 
settlement was commenced. 

On the 5th of May, 181 2, the ship Beaver, twenty 
guns. Captain Sowls, by way of the Sandwich islands, 
with additional supplies, and having on board Mr. 
Clark, six clerks, and twenty-six Kanakas, arrived to 
join Astor's company on the Columbia. 

News of American occupation of Oregon reaching 
the British authorities and the members of the North- 
west Fur Company, (a company established by charter 
of Louis XIII, of France, in Acadia, Nova Scotia, in 
1630, and whose existence and legality were acknowl- 
edged by the British government on the transfer of 
Acadia to England by the treaty of Utrecht, in 171 4,) 
they became alarmed at the encroachments of Ameri- 
cans in such close proximity to the northern British 
American boundar^^ then undefined and uncertain. 
This fur company despatched from Canada Mr. David 
Thompson, as their agent, to the Columbia river, where 
he arrived July 15, 181 3, and located at Astoria. His 
object was to supplant Astor and his American inter- 
ests, and obtain possession of the country and its fur 
trade. 

Messrs. Hunt, McKenzie, McClellan, and Crooks, 
members of the Pacific Fur Company, with sixty men, 
had left the Atlantic States, crossed the country, and, 
after great peril and the loss of many of their com- 
rades, arrived at Astoria, January 28, 1 8 1 2. In August, 
181 2, Mr. Hunt, on board the Beaver, made a voyage 



FUR TRADERS ON THE COAST. 



1Z 



to the Russian settlements of Alaska for the purpose 
of trade ; thence to the Sandwich islands, from whence 
he despatched his ship to China, and remained at the 
Sandwich islands until June, 1813, when the Albatross^ 
on her way from Canton, brought him the news of 
the war between Great Britain and the United States, 
and that the company's ship Beaver was at Canton, 
blockaded by an English war- ship. Mr. Hunt, on 
board the Albatross, sailed at once for the Columbia 
river, where he arrived August 4, 181 3. Here he 
found things changed: his resident partners at Astoria, 
who managed the business in the interior, were British 
subjects, and were desirous to sell the rights of the 
company to the Northwest Fur Company. Hunt, on 
the Albatross, soon departed for the Sandwich islands. 
At Washington islands he met the United States frigate 
Essex, Commodore Porter, from whom he learned that 
the British intended to seize all the American property 
on the Pacific. At the Sandwich islands he chartered 
the brig Pedler and started back to Astoria, where he 
arrived in February, 18 14, only to learn that immedi- 
ately after his departure from Astoria, in August, 18 13, 
Mr. McTavish, an agent of the Northwest Fur Com- 
pany, with a number of employes, had arrived at Asto- 
ria, and that his partners had, on the i6th of October, 
181 3, sold out the American Pacific Fur Company 
to the Northwest Fur Company, and had themselves 
joined that company and thrown all their influence into 
it. Thus, by the duplicity of the British subjects in the 
Astor company, and without the knowledge or consent 
of its founder and head, they turned over to the North- 
west Fur Company, at a nominal sum, that prosperous 
concern, which in so short a time (two years) had laid 



74 THE GOLDEN STATE.' 

the foundation of American settlement on the Pacific 
coast, and the princely fortune of its projector. 

The British, in possession of the fur company and 
Astoria, changed its name to their patron saint, and 
called it Fort Georo-e. On December i , followine, the 
British sloop-of-war Raccoon, Captain Black, arrived at 
Astoria, and landed a troop of British soldiers. Black 
took formal possession of the place, lowered the Ameri- 
can flag", and placed in its stead the cross of St. George; 
and thus Oregon was in possession of the British, which 
they formally held until the 6th of October, 1818, when, 
by order of the Prince Regent of England to the North 
American Fur Company, under date of January 27, 
181 8, to deliver the territory to the American govern- 
ment, it was restored by the following article : 

"We, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article of 
the treaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the United States, 
through its agent, J. P. Provost, Esq., the settlement of Fort George, 
on the Columbia river. 

" Given under our hands in triplicate, at Fort George, (Columbia 
river,) this 6th day of October, 1818. 

*'F. HiCKEY, Captain H. M. Ship Blossom. 
"J. Keith, of the N. W. Co.'' 

On the restoration of the territory, the stars and 
stripes once more floated over Oregon. 

In 1 82 1, the North American Fur Company and the 
Hudson Bay Company consolidated, under the name 
of the Hudson Bay Company, in which capacity they 
continued in Oregon and Washington Territory until a 
very recent period. 

On the disbandment of the Pacific Fur Company, 
(Astor's,) a number of the employes of the company 
embarked in trading and independent trapping, some 
of whom found their way to California. Astor, however, 




MUD VOLCANO, YKI.I.oWSTONE REGION, WYOMING TERRITORY. 
(;Line ot the Northern Pacific Railrod.) 




LOWER FALLS OK THE YKLLOWI-TdNE, WYOMINi; TERKITOKY, 
(350 feet in height. IJne of the Northern Pacific Railroad, i 



TRAPPERS IN THE INTERIOR. 75 

did not abandon the fur trade; but, in connection with 
W. H. Ashley, in 1823, formed a second North Ameri- 
can Fur Company, extending its operations in the direc- 
tion of the Rocky mountains; and, in 1824, estabhshed 
a post near Salt lake. In 1826, this company had in 
its employ over one hundred men in the Rocky moun- ' 
tains and on the Green river. 

During this period a company known as the Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company was trading in the mountains, 
and pushed its operations into California, and as far 
north as the Umpqua river in Oregon. The members 
of this company were Messrs. Jackson, Sublette, Smith, 
and others. The overland journeys up to this date 
were all made to Oregon : as yet, the foot of the white 
man had never entered California by the overland route, 
until the Smith above alluded to, in the spring of 1825, 
found his way into California, and who is entitled to the 
honorof being the earliest overland pioneerof California. 
In July, 1825, he established a post near the present 
town of Folsom, and entered upon his business of 
trapping. Smith, in October of this year, left his com- 
pany on the American river and started east to report 
to his partners on Green river. In May, 1826, in com- 
pany with several others, he again set out for California. 
On his way, at the Mohave settlements on the Colorado, 
all the party except Smith and two others were killed 
by the Indians. 

Smith and his two companions. Turner and Galbraith, 
on entering California, in December, 1826, in the lower 
part of the State, were arrested on suspicion of having 
designs against the government, and carried to the 
presidio at San Diego, where the commandant of the 
territory, Governor Echandia, interrogated them upon 



^6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

their intentions and business in California. The follow- 
ing letter from the officers of American vessels then on 
the coast had the effect of releasing Smith and his com- 
panions, securing them a passport permitting them to 
pursue their journey toward the Columbia river in 
Oregon : 

"We, the undersigned, having been requested by Captain Jedediah 
S. Smith to state our opinions regarding his entering the province of 
California, do not hesitate to say that we have no doubt in our 
minds but that he was compelled to for want of provisions and 
water, having entered so far into the barren country that lies between 
the latitudes of forty-two and forty-three west that he found it im- 
possible to return by the route he came, as his horses had most of 
them perished for want of food and water. He was, therefore, 
under the necessity of pushing forward to California, it being the 
nearest place where he could procure supplies to enable him to 
return. 

" We further state as our opinions that the account given by him 
is circumstantially correct, and that his sole object was the hunting 
and trapping of beaver and other furs. 

"We have also examined the passports produced by him from the 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the government of the United 
States of America, and do not hesitate to say we believe them to be 
perfectly correct. 

"We also state that, in our opinion, his motive for wishing to 
pass by a different route to the head of the Columbia river on his 
return is solely because he feels convinced that he and his companions 
run great risk of perishing if they return by the route they came. 

" In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals 
this 20th day of December, 1826. 

"Wm. G. Dana, Capt. of Schooner Waverly. [l. s.] 

"Wm. H. Cunningham, Capt. of Ship Courier. [l. s.] 
"Wm. Henderson, Capt. of Brig Olive Branch. [l. s.] 
"James Scott. [l. s.] 

"Thos. M. Roebins, Mate of Schooner IVaveriy. [l. s.] 
"Thos. Shaw, Supercargo of Ship Courier.'^ [l. s.] 

Smith, with his companions, except Turner and Gal- 
braith, who remained in California, started upon their 



y. S. SMITH, FIRST EXPLORER. 'J J 

northward journey; but winter coming on, they met 
with great difficulty in pursuing their course, and, after 
several ineffectual attempts to cross the mountains, were 
forced to retreat to the valleys for shelter and suste- 
nance. Here Smith again found himself in trouble : 
his presence appeared before the " holy fathers " like a 
terrible apparition, filling them with terror, and they 
again demanded an explanation ; and poor Smith, 
reduced to extremities sufficient to arouse sympathy in 
the heart of a pagan, pours forth his sad story to Father 
Duran, then stationed at San Jose: 

LETTER FROM CAPTAIN JEDEDIAH S. SMITH TO FATHER DORAN. 

" Reverend Father: I understand, through the medium of one 
of your Christian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we 
are, as some of the Indians have been at the mission and informed 
you that there were certain white people in the country. We are 
Americans, on our journey to the River Columbia. We were in at 
the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and 
saw the general, and got a passport from him to pass on to that 
place. I have made several efforts to cross the mountains, but the 
snows being so deep, I could not succeed in getting over. I re- 
turned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat) to wait a 
few weeks until the snow melts, so that I can go on. The Indians 
here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to 
remain until such time as I can cross the mountains with my horses, 
having lost a great many in attempting to cross ten or fifteen days 
since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious to get there 
as soon as the nature of the case will admit. Our situation is quite 
unpleasant, being destitute of clothing and most of the necessaries 
of life, wild meat being our principal subsistence. 

"I am, reverend father, your strange but real friend and Christian 

brother, 

"J. S. Smith. 
"May 19, 1827." 

Smith and his party, in the summer of 1827, pursued 
their journey northward, when, arriving at the mouth 



78 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of the Umpqiia river, in Oregon, the whole company, 
except Smith, Daniel Prior, and Richard Laughlin, were 
murdered by the Indians, who carried their packs of 
valuable furs to the Hudson Bay Company, where they 
sold them. With his remaining companions. Smith 
pushed northward, and finally reached Fort Vancouver, 
on the west side of the Columbia river. He subse- 
quently returned to St. Louis, (1830,) sold out his 
interest in the fur company, and was finally killed by 
Indians on the Cimarron river, in 1831, on his way to 
Santa Fe, at the head of an emigrant company. It is 
said that, in his peregrinations in the Sierras, Smith 
discovered gold somewhere between Mono lake and 
Salt lake, and that he carried a considerable quantity 
of it to his partners in the fur company on Green river; 
but this lacks positive confirmation. 

A company of trappers, under the leadership of 
James O. Pattie, left the valley of the Mississippi, in 
1825, bound for the Pacific coast. This company spent 
five years in roaming through New Mexico and Colo- 
rado. They were finally plundered in the Gila valley 
by the Yuma Indians, and near the mouth of the Colo- 
rado. The members of this company first entered 
California in 1830. An account of this expedition was 
published in the message of President Jackson to 
Congress, in 1836. 

At this period, and for many years previous. Con- 
gress manifested a deep interest in encouraging emi- 
gration to the Pacific. As early as 1820, John B. 
Floyd, a member of Congress from Virginia, framed a 
bill and presented it to that body, " favoring emigration 
to the country west of the Rocky mountains, not only 
from the United States but from China." 



FJKST AMERICANS IN CALIFORNIA. 79 

Captain Brown, by water, and Captain Smith, by- 
land, are beyond all doubt entitled to the honor of being 
the first Americans that ever entered California. Pre- 
vious to Smith's arrival overland, considerable business 
had sprung up along the coast of California, and the 
trading vessels of the shrewd Yankee could be found 
threading their way into every nook and corner, from 
Lower California to Sitka. From these vessels, as 
well as from stray trappers from Oregon, some settle- 
ment had been made in the country. 

In 1 81 4, one of the Hudson Bay Company's ships 
put into Monterey for supplies, having on board John 
Gilroy, a Scottish youth, eighteen years of age, who 
was so ill with scurvy that he had to be left at this 
port. Six long years passed from the date of his being 
left at Monterey before another ship entered that har- 
bor, except the unwelcome visit made by a Spanish 
pirate, in 1819, which, after capturing the fort, sacked 
the town and finally burned it, which was not difficult, 
as it contained only six small houses. Gilroy located 
in the Santa Clara valley, and was the first Anglo- 
Saxon, or Celtic, settler in California. He died a few 
years since, at his home in the town of Gilroy, Santa 
Clara county, having resided constantly in California 
from his first arrival. 

In 18 1 8, Antonio M. Sunol, a native of Spain, but at 
one time in the French navy, arrived at Monterey. 
He resided in California from his arrival to 1865, when 
he died, in Santa Clara county. 

Captain F. W. Macondray, on board the ship Pan- 
ther, from Chili, arrived at Monterey, in 1821 ; and con- 
tinued to reside in the country, in mercantile business 
in San Francisco, until his decease a few years since. 



8o THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The first mercantile house opened in Cahfornia was 
in 1822, by an English firm from Lima, Peru; they 
established themselves at Monterey. A trade in hides, 
furs, tallow, wine, and grain was now fast growing to 
importance. In this year, W. E. P. Hartnell, an Eng- 
lishman, arrived at Monterey, and W. A. Richardson, 
also an Englishman, arrived at San Francisco. Hart- 
nell subsequently became the first translator for the 
United States government of the Mexican archives, 
and Richardson became the first harbor master at San 
Francisco. 

J. B. R. Cooper arrived at Monterey from Boston, 
Mass., in 1823, and engaged in catching sea otter on the 
coast. He died in California in the winter of 187 1-2. 
He was the half-brother of the late Thomas O. Larkin, 
first and only United States consul in California. 

The Congress of the United States, on the i8th of 
May, 1S36, passed an act authorizing an expedition to 
explore the Pacific ocean, and make a full examination 
of the islands, rocks, shoals, &c., in the line of the whal- 
ing fleets of the Pacific, the coast line, and interior of 
Oregon and California ; and, by order of the Presi- 
dent of the United States, and by letter from J. K. Paul- 
ding, Secretary of the Navy, dated August 11, 1838, 
Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, subsequently Commodore 
Wilkes, was appointed to command the expedition. 
The Secretary's letter to Wilkes says : 

"Thence you will direct your course to the northwest coast of 
America, making such surveys and examinations, first of the terri- 
tory of the United States on the seaboard and of the Columbia river, 
and afterwards along the coast of California, with special reference 
to the Bay of San Francisco, as you can accomplish by the month 
of October following your arrival." 



COMMODORE WILKES' EXPEDITION. gl 

The fleet consisted of the United States ship Vin- 
cennes, United States ship Peacock, United States ship 
Relief, United States brig Porpoise, tender Sea- Gull, 
and tender Flying Fish. This fleet, well equipped, and 
manned with seamen and scientific men, sailed on its 
mission August i8, 1838; and, after exploring the 
South Pacific, arrived, on April 28, 1841, off Cape 
Disappointment, near the mouth of the Columbia river; 
but, owing to the roughness of the bar, and not know- 
ing the channel, Wilkes headed north, and, on the nth 
of May, entered the Straits of Fuca, just forty-nine 
years after the navigator Vancouver, in pursuing the 
track of De Fuca, had visited there. 

Wilkes, in describing his explorations along the north 
coast, mentions the wreck of a Japanese junk, near 
Point Grenville, which is midway between the Columbia 
and Puget sound, Washington Territory. He says : 

" It was also near this spot that the very remarkable occurrence 
of the wreck of a Japanese junk happened in the year 1833. The 
ofificers of the Hudson Bay Company became aware of this disaster 
in a singular manner. They received a drawing, on a piece of 
China paper, in which were depicted three shipAvrecked persons, 
with the junk on the rocks, and the Indians engaged in plundering. 
This was sufficient to induce them to make inquiries ; and Captain 
McNeil (a native of Boston) was despatched to Cape Flattery to 
obtain further information, and afford relief, should it be needed. 

" He had the satisfaction to find three Japanese, whom he rescued 
from slavery ; and the Hudson Bay Company, with characteristic 
liberality, sent them to England ; thence they took passage to China, 
where, I understand, they still remain, in consequence of their being 
unable to obtain a passage to Japan." 

Wilkes, making a voyage up Puget sound, crossed 
by land to the Cowletz, thence down the Columbia, and 
arrived at Astoria in the latter part of May, 1841. 
After extending his explorations inland as far as Fort 



82 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Colville, through the greater part of Oregon and Wash- 
ington Territory, he proceeded to California. On the 
14th of October, 1 841, the Vincenn es, Commsinder Ring- 
gold, arrived at San Francisco. Here intelligence of 
the death of President Harrison was received. Wilkes, 
in his report, says : " As soon as the ship anchored, an 
officer was despatched on shore to call upon the authori- 
ties ; but none of any description were to be found : 
the only magistrate or alcalde was absent." 

After the land expedition had explored Southern 
Oregon and a great portion of the interior of California, 
the various divisions of the expedition met at San 
Francisco, on the ist of November, 1841, from whence 
the fleet sailed for the Hawaiian group. From there 
the expedition extended its operations to the South 
Pacific, returning home by China and the Cape of Good 
Hope, and arrived at New York on the loth day of 
June, 1842, and disbanded. 

Wilkes' official report to Congress of his extensive 
explorations in the Pacific — a work of five volumes, 
with drawings, maps, charts, &c. — is a valuable acqui- . 
sition to our early history of the Pacific coast; but fails 
to exhibit either the genial climate or fertile soil of 
California as these subjects deserve ; and the single 
allusion of his mineralogist, Mr. Dana, of the indication 
of precious metals in some quartz specimens found in 
Southern Oregon, is the only mention made of mmerals 
in his report. 

It was in conjunction with this expedition, and to ex- 
plore that part of the Pacific coast which could not be 
reached by Wilkes' party, that the expeditions of John 
C. Fremont and his associates were subsequently 
inaugurated. 



FREMONT S EXPLORATIONS. 83 

The solicitude of the government to ascertain more 
concerning the region in the vicinity of the Columbia 
river being settled up with Americans caused a com- 
mission to be issued to John C Fremont, to explore 
the Rocky mountains in search of an available pass to 
the Columbia. In furtherance of this object, Fremont, 
at the head of a party fitted out for this expedition, left 
Washington, on the 2d of May, 1842 ; and, after a six 
months campaign, in which he extended his explora- 
tions no farther than the Rocky mountains, he, on the 
29th of October, returned and reported the result of 
his observations, which were so favorably received by 
Congress that a second expedition was fitted out, with 
directions to explore not only a route through the 
Rocky mountains but through the greater part of Ore- 
gon and California. Fremont was again appointed to 
command this expedition, consisting of thirty-nine men, 
which left the Missouri river on their western tour in 
May, 1843. 

Fremont pushed westward with great energy, making 
scientific observations upon the whole route. On No- 
vember 4, 1 843, he arrived at the Dalles on the Colum- 
bia river, Oregon, and soon started southward through 
the Wallamet valley and Southern Oregon by Klamath 
lake. Here he encountered the Sierras, and with his 
horses and mules famishing, surrounded with frowning 
granite peaks, deep ravines, biting frosts, and increasing 
depth of snow, without trail or hope of speedy relief, he 
passed New Year's day, 1844. From this period until 
March following, this little band battled daily against 
the rigid frosts and desolation of the Sierras, when, 
finally, reaching the southern slope of the mountains. 



84 ^-^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

hope dawned upon them. . They emerged from their 
winter imprisonment on March 6, 1844. 
Fremont, in his report, says : 

" Here the grass was smooth and green, and groves very open ; 
the large oaks throwing a broad shade among sunny spots. Shortly 
afterwards, we gave a shout at the appearance on a little bluff of a 
neatly built adobe house with glass windows. . . . We came 
unexpectedly into a large Indian village, where the people looked 
clean, and wore cotton shirts, and various other articles of dress." 

This was one of Sutter's houses, and Fremont and 
his party soon found themselves in comfortable quarters 
with the noble Swiss philanthropist. 

On the 24th of March, Fremont headed homeward, 
following the San Joaquin valley, with the Sierras on 
his left ; heading south he soon reached the alkaline 
plains of San Bernardino county, of which inhospitable 
region Fremont, in his report, speaks as follows : 

" One might travel the world over without finding a valley more 
fresh and verdant — more floral and sylvan — more alive with birds 
and animals — more bounteously watered — than we had left in the 
San Joaquin ; here, within a few miles ride, a vast desert plain 
spreads before us, from which the boldest traveller turns away in 
despair." 

He further says : 

" Our cavalcade made a strange and grotesque appearance; and 
it was impossible to avoid reflecting upon our position and composi- 
tion in this remote solitude. Within two degrees of the Pacific 
ocean ; already far south of the latitude of Monterey, and still forced 
on south by the desert on one hand and the mountain range on the 
other; guided by a civilized Indian, attended by two wild ones 
from the Sierras, a Chinook from the Columbia, and our own mix- 
ture of American, French, and German — all armed ; four or five 
languages heard at once ; above a hundred horses and mules, half 
wild ; American, Spanish, *and Indian dresses and equipments inter- 



FREMONrS EXPEDITIONS. 85 

mingled — such was our composition, . . In this form we jour- 
neyed ; looking more like we belonged to Asia than to the United 
States of America. ' ' 

In May, 1844, Fremont and his party found them- 
selves, after travelHng a circuit of thirty-five hundred 
miles since September, 1843, i^^ the vicinity of Salt 
lake ; where they had halted in their westward march. 
On the 6th of August, 1844, he with his party arrived 
at St. Louis, where they disbanded; and thus ended 
his second overland expedition. 



g6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER VI. ■ 

Pico and Castro in command of California — Decline of the mis- 
sions — Early trade — English, French, and American consuls in 
California — Indolence of the people — Fremont's third explora- 
tion : his trials and triumphs in California — Castro and Fremont 
— Fremont raises the American flag — Lieutenant Gillespie carries 
letters to Fremont — Kit Carson saves Fremont — Sonoma captured 
— W. B. Ide declares a republican government and hoists the "Bear 
Flag" — Fremont elected Governor — Commodore Sloat captures 
Monterey — British projects frustrated — Sloat's proclamation — 
The American flag hoisted in San Francisco — Commodore Stock- 
ton at Monterey — Dupont and General Kearney at Monterey — 
Arrival of Stevenson's regiment — Uneasiness of the native Cali- 
fornians — Interesting speeches — Proposition to place California 
under the protection of England or France — General Vallejo 
favors annexation to the United States. 

The spring of 1846 found Governor Pico and General 
Castro — who, with General Vallejo, had deposed the 
last of the Mexican governors in California — in com- 
mand of the civil and military affairs of the territory. 
But these officers were neither reconciled to their rela- 
tions with each other nor the future aspect of the affairs 
of California. By this time the missions of the pious 
fathers had been abandoned, and were in a hopeless 
state of decay ; the native converts had lost their piety 
with the decline of their supply of food ; the vast herds 
and flocks of the Franciscan fathers had disappeared. 
Most of the officials and influential men of Mexico at 
one time in the country had either been banished or of 
their own will had departed. The last of the Spanish 
galleons had disappeared from the Pacific. The inte- 
rior trade of the whole country was a mere myth. 
Ships commanded and owned by Americans were 
hovering about the ports, supplying the setders and 




MONTEREY, MEXICAN TKRRITORIAI. CAPITAL OF CALIP^ORNIA, TN I846. 



-v: 




MISSION' RANCIIO, CALII-OKMA, IN I770. 



INDOLENCE OF THE PEOPLE. 87 

natives with all kinds of goods and "notions," for which 
they received hides, tallow, and peltry; these found a 
market chiefly in Boston. Many foreigners were settling 
about the coast ; and across the plains and from Oregon 
came considerable numbers of Yankees, always a terror 
to the Spanish and Mexican settlers. England, France, 
and the United States had their consuls at Monterey, 
the capital, and the ships of their respective nations 
seemed to increase and hover suspiciously about the 
ports. 

All attachment to Spanish rule had long since died 
out, and Mexico, always in the throes of intestine war, 
had neither security nor attraction for the native popu- 
lation of the country, now the sole rulers of California. 
The Indians had long before ceased to be the willing 
slaves of the people. The masses were reckless, indo- 
lent, and illiterate, living off the flocks and herds which 
roamed over limitless acres. Agriculture was almost 
entirely unknown ; the hand of skill and industry had 
never brought forth from the rich soil the rewards of 
the husbandman; roads, bridges, canals, and wheeled 
carriages were unknown ; the iron horse had not yet 
crossed the Mississippi, nor looked out upon the placid 
waters of the Pacific ocean. All branches of art and 
manufacture were yet a mystery. Codes of laws, 
courts, and juries, with doctors, lawyers, and schools, 
were unheard of. Carpets, cook-stoves, window glass, 
and wood floors were never seen ; milk, butter, cheese, 
and eggs were something of which the people knew 
not even by name, although cattle dotted every hill, 
and the genial climate and prolific soil, without the aid 
of man, supported all stock the whole year around. 
What is now the city of San Francisco was a scattered 



88 THE GOLDEN STATE, 

village of mud and adobe huts, with a few hundred in- 
habitants, who alternately waded through sand and mud 
unaided by streets, and no other light than that which 
the tallow candle or whale oil afforded. Navigation upon 
the inland waters of the State was confined to a lew 
whaleboats in the possession of the resident foreigners. 
The great forests, fisheries, quarries of granite, and beds 
of coal were undisturbed. The sands of the Yuba and 
Feather rivers still concealed their golden treasure, and 
the great bosom of nature, which held in its gigantic 
and stern embrace the mineral wealth of the foot-hills 
and Sierras, still refused to man the secret which two 
years later electrified the world, and brought the most 
unknown and fairest pordon of the globe into close 
social and commercial relations with all parts of the 
world, and so materially aided in developing California, 
in 1870, to its status of five hundred and sixty thou- 
sand active, educated, and progressive people, in the 
possession of real estate to the value of two hundred 
million dollars, and personal property worth one hun- 
dred million dollars, and an area and capabilities to sus- 
tain a population of seventy million. 

The third expedition under Fremont was projected 
by Congress during the early part of 1845 ! "^^^ i^i the 
spring of that year started across the plains and the 
Rocky mountains to the Pacific, with instructions to 
endeavor to find the best route from the Rocky moun- 
tains to the mouth of the Colunibia river. After a 
most hazardous journey, he arrived with his faithful 
guide and escort. Kit Carson, and his men, (six of whom 
were Delaware Indians,) the whole company consisting 
of sixty-two men, within a hundred miles of Monterey, 
where he halted, and proceeded in person to the head- 



MEXICAN TREACHERY. 89 

quarters of General Castro, the Mexican general in 
charge of the territory. His object was to obtain a 
pass for himself and company to go to the San Joaquin 
valley, where hunting and pasture were abundant. He 
received a verbal promise from the general that it would 
be all right, to go where he desired, and that, on his 
word of honor "as a soldier," he would not be molested. 
Fremont and his party were soon on their way to the 
valley. 

Three days after this. General Castro had raised an 
army of three hundred native Californians, and sent a 
despatch to Fremont, notifying him to quit the country 
at once, else he would march upon him and put to 
death his whole company. This treachery did not 
much surprise Fremont, who replied that he would 
leave when he was ready. He prepared for action, 
entrenched himself on " Hank's Peak," about thirty 
miles from Monterey, and overlooking that village, 
where he raised the American flag. The whole com- 
pany was well armed, each with a knife, a tomahawk, 
two pistols, and a rifle. Castro now came dashing on 
with cavalry, infantry, and artillery ; but, after making 
a few ineffectual attacks, always galloped off before 
comincf within rangfe of Fremont's bullets. Castro 
issued bulletins and proclamations daily of the impend- 
ing destruction of the little band, but always keeping 
out of rifle-range of the entrenchments. After four 
days of this fighting, Fremont broke camp and started 
on his journey toward Oregon. Castro was not 
visible. 

Fremont had proceeded into Oregon, and had reached 
Klamath lake, when he was overtaken by Lieutenant 
Gillespie, of the United States army, who had left 



90 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Washington the previous November, crossing the coun- 
try from Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, and who arrived at 
Monterey in a United States sloop-of-war, and started 
up the valley in search of the explorers. Gillespie had 
letters to Fremont from the Secretary of State, and it 
is supposed they, or other letters to him from friends 
at Washington, caused him to retrace his steps and re- 
turn to the valley of the Sacramento. This move had 
been quickened by the fact that, on the very night after 
receiving his despatches, and while all were asleep, the 
Indians broke into his camp and assassinated three of 
his Delaware Indians, and miofht have slain the whole 
company had it not been for the vigilance of Kit Carson, 
who sounded the alarm. 

Fremont soon returned to the Sacramento valley, 
and encamped near the mouth of the Feather river, 
where the settlers soon flocked around him. Great 
alarm was caused by reports that General Castro, with 
a strong force of cavalry, was on the march to attack 
them. A company of twelve volunteers, headed by 
Mr. Mersite, started for the Mexican fort at Sonoma, 
in Sonoma county, and on the 15th of June, 1846, 
entered and captured the post, where they found two 
hundred and fifty stand of arms and nine cannon. Here 
they captured General Vallejo, and took him a prisoner 
to Sutter's fort at Sacramento. 

William B. Ide, a New England man, was left to 
garrison the fort at Sonoma, with a force of eighteen 
men. General Castro having charge of the department 
of Sonoma, issued his proclamation, calling upon his 
countrymen to rise and drive the marauders from the 
soil. On the i8th of June, Ide issued his proclamation 
to the people of Sonoma, to defend themselves, and 



IDE'S PROCLAMATION. 9 1 

calling upon them to assemble at Sonoma, and assist in 
establishing a republican government 
Following is Ide's proclamation : 

'■^ A proclamation to all persons and citizens of the District of Sonojna, 
requesting them to remain at peace, and follow their rightful occupa- 
tions without fear of molestation. 

" The Commander-in-chief of the troops assembled at the fortress 
of Sonoma gives his inviolable pledge to all persons in California, 
not found under arms, that they shall not be disturbed in their per- 
sons, their property, or social relations, one with another, by men 
under his command. 

" He also solemnly declares his object to be, first, to defend him- 
self and companions in arms, who were invited to this country by a 
promise of lands on which to settle themselves and families, who 
were also promised a republican government ; when, having arrived 
in California, they were denied the privilege of buying or renting 
lands of their friends; who, instead of being allowed to participate 
in or being protected by a republican government, were oppressed 
by a military despotism ; who were even threatened by proclama- 
tion, by the chief officers of the aforesaid despotism, with extermi- 
nation, if they should not depart out of the country, leaving all their 
property, arms, and beasts of burden ; and thus deprived of their 
means of flight or defence, were to be driven through deserts inhab- 
ited by hostile Indians to certain destruction. 

" To overthrow a government which has seized upon the property 
of the missions for its individual aggrandizement, which has ruined 
and shamefully oppressed the laboring people of California by enor- 
mous exactions on goods imported into the country, is the determined 
purpose of the brave men who are associated under my command. 

" I also solemnly declare my object, in the second place, to be to 
invite all peaceable and good citizens of California, who are friendly 
to the maintenance of good order and equal rights, and I do hereby 
invite them, to repair to my camp at Sonoma, without delay, to 
assist us in establishing and perpetuating a republican government, 
which shall secure to all civil and religious liberty, which shall 
encourage virtue and literature, which shall leave unshackled by 
fetters agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. 

" I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of our intentions, 
the fiivor of Heaven, and the bravery of those who are bound and 



g2 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

associated with me by the principles of self-preservation, by the love 
of truth, and the hatred of tyranny, for my hopes of success. 

"I furthermore declare that I believe that a government, to be 
prosperous and happy, must originate with the people, who are 
friendly to its existence; that the citizens are its guardians, the 
officers its servants, its glory its reward. 

"William B. Ide. 
"Head-Quarters, Sonoma, June i8, 1846." 

A flag was improvised, by painting in rude form the 
figure of a grizzly bear on a piece of white cotton cloth. 
It followed Ide's proclamation, and was the first flag 
after California was declared independent of Mexico. 
It is still in possession of the " Pioneer Society " of 
California, at San Francisco. 

Fremont was at Sutter's fort during these event- 
ful operations ; but hearing that Castro intended a raid 
upon Ide at Sonoma, he reached there, on the 23d of 
June, at the head of ninety riflemen. He met only a 
few retreating Mexicans of De la Torres' band, who 
made their way to Saucelito, where they escaped by 
boat across the bay to Yerba Buena, (now San Fran- 
cisco.) Castro did not appear. 

Fremont returned to Sonoma, and, on July 4, 1846, 
called a meeting of the Americans. He was appointed 
governor, issued a proclamation of independence, and 
declared war against Mexico ; and, at the head of his 
company of one hundred and sixty men, started for 
Sutter's fort, intending to attack Castro, who was re- 
ported to be at Santa Clara. They soon learned, how- 
ever, that he was on the retreat to Los Angeles, but 
they determined to follow him, (some five hundred 
miles.) 

Soon news reached them of a new feature in affairs. 
On the 7th day of July, Commodore Sloat, of the United 



UNITED STATES AND MEXICO AT WAR. 93 

States navy, with the frigate Savannah and another 
small vessel, arrived at the Bay of Monterey, California. 
The commodore had no instructions from his govern- 
ment to take any hostile steps on the Pacific coast : on 
the contrary, his mission was peace ; but whilst he was 
at Mazatlan he heard of the annexation of Texas, and 
of the war waging between Mexico and the United 
States, and that General Taylor was already marching 
toward the city of Mexico, and that Matamoras was 
occupied by United States forces. These things Sloat 
had learned while on board his vessel at the Mexican 
port of Mazatlan. The news of these events had been 
sent by courier privately from the city of Mexico to 
the Mexican officials at Mazatlan; and although instruc- 
tions had been issued, dated May 13, 1846, and directed 
by the President of the United States, to Commodore 
Sloat, to take possession of and hold Mazatlan, Monte- 
rey, and San Francisco, and to declare the country the 
property of the United States, they had not reached 
him. 

Admiral Seymour, of the British navy, with the line- 
of- battle ship Collingzvood, was at Mazatlan. He had 
also received despatches from the city of Mexico, and 
it was evident that all the Mexican officials favored the 
occupation of California by the British, instead of by 
their enemies, the Americans, with whom they were 
now at war. 

The British admiral, basking in the smiles of the 
Mexican authorities, hoisted sail upon his ship, and 
the Collingwood majestically moved seaward, bound for 
Monterey. Commodore Sloat, who was watching with 
a jealous eye the movements of the British admiral, 



Q4 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

half an hour later set sail upon his t\Vo little vessels, 
the Savannah and Preble, and headed direcdy for Mon- 
terey, determined to take possession of the town if he 
arrived there before the British admiral. The Savan- 
nah, being the fastest, reached Monterey first, where 
Sloat learned of determined efforts being made by the 
Bridsh and Mexican authorises to place California 
under the protection of the English government. 

Governor Pico, the Mexican Governor of the Terri- 
tory of California, and General Castro, were in favor 
of this scheme. Mr. Forbes, the English vice-consul 
at Monterey, was active in making the negotiations ; 
and the American consul, Thomas O. Larkin, also at 
Monterey, informed Sloat upon his arrival of the state 
of affairs. This, together with the news of the opera- 
tions of Fremont and his party at Sonoma, (it is sup- 
posed he had heard of them,) and the state of affairs 
between the United States and Mexico, determined 
him at once (July 7) to despatch two hundred a-nd fifty 
marines on shore, and to hoist the American flag over 
the town of Monterey. A salute of twenty-one guns 
was fired, and a proclamation issued that California 
henceforth was a part of the United States. 

The dull ship of the British rear-admiral arrived at 
Monterey only to see the stars and stripes floating over 
it as a part of the republic of America. The admiral, 
too, read the proclamation, and saw that he was out- 
witted by Sloat, and outrun by the Savannah, and that 
the swiftness of the Savannah and the gallantry of 
Commodore Sloat had placed California beyond Bridsh 
rule. 

The proclamation is as follows: 



COMMODORE SLOATS PROCLAMATION: 95 

"to the inhabitants of CALIFORNIA: 

" The central government of Mexico having commenced hostilities 
against the United States of America, by invading its territory, and 
attacking the troops of the United States stationed on the north 
side of the Rio Grande, and with a force of seven thousand men, 
under the command of General Arista, which army was totally 
destroyed, and all their artillery, baggage, &c., captured on the 8th 
and 9th of May last, by a force of two thousand and three hundred 
men, under the command of General Taylor, and the city of Mata- 
moras taken and occupied by the forces of the United States, and 
the two nations being actually at war by this transaction, I shall 
hoist the standard of the United States at Monterey immediately, 
and shall carry it throughout California. 

" I declare to the inhabitants of California that, although I come 
in arms with a powerful force, I do not come among them as an 
enemy to California : on the contrary, I come as their best friend, 
as henceforth California will be a portion of the United States, and 
its peaceable inhabitants will enjoy the same rights and principles 
they now enjoy, together with the privilege of choosing their own 
magistrates and other officers for the administration of justice among 
themselves, and the same protection will be extended to them as to 
any other State in the Union. They will also enjoy a permanent 
government, under which life, property, and the constitutional right 
and lawful security to worship the Creator in the way the most 
congenial to each other's sense of duty will be secured, which, 
unfortunately, the central government of Mexico cannot afford them, 
destroyed as her resources are by internal factions and corrupt officers, 
who create constant revalutions to promote their own interests and 
oppress the people. Under the flag of the United States, California 
will be free from all such trouble and expenses ; consequently the 
country will rapidly advance and improve both in agriculture and 
commerce, as, of course, the revenue laws will be the same in Cali- 
fornia as in all parts of the United States, affording them all manu- 
factures and produce of the United States free of any duty, and all 
foreign goods at one-quarter of the duty they now pay. A great 
increase in the value of real estate and the products of California 
may also be anticipated. 

"With the great interest and kind feeling I know the government 
and people of the United States possess towards the citizens of Cali- 



96 THE GOLDEN STATE, 

.fornia, the country cannot but improve more rapidly than any other 
on the continent of America. 

"Such of the inhabitants of California, whether native or foreigners, 
as may not be disposed to accept the high privileges of citizenship, 
and to live peaceably under the government of the United States, 
will be allowed time to dispose of their property and to remove out 
of the country, if they choose, without any restriction ; or remain 
in it, observing strict neutrality. 

"With full confidence in the honor and integrity of the inhabitants 
of the country, I invite the judges, alcaldes, and other civil officers 
to execute their functions as heretofore, that the public tranquillity 
may not be disturbed ; at least until the government of the territory 
can be more definitely arranged. 

"All persons holding titles to real estate, or in quiet possession of 
land under color of right, shall have those titles guaranteed to them. 

"All churches and the property they contain in possession of the 
clergy of California shall continue in the same rights and possessions 
they now enjoy. 

"All provisions and supplies of every kind furnished by the in- 
habitants for the use of the United States ships and soldiers will be 
paid for at fair rates ; and no private property will be taken for 
public use without just compensation at the moment. 

"John D. Sloat, 

" Commander-in-chief of U. S. Naval Force on Pacific Ocean. 
"United States Flag-Ship Savannah, 

"Harbor of Monterey, July 7, 1846." 

The day following, July 8, by order of Commodore 
Sloat, a party from the United States sloop-of-war 
Portsmouth landed at Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, 
and hoisted the American flag on the plaza. 

On the loth. Commander Montgomery, of the Ports 
mouthy sent an American flag to Sonoma, which was 
hoisted, and the flag improvised by Ide and his men, 
known as the "Bear Flag," was hauled down, all welcom- 
ing the stars and stripes. 

Commodore Stockton, on board the United States 
frigate Congress, arrived at Monterey July 15, just one 



OCCUPATION OF CALIFORNIA. 97 

week after Sloat had taken possession of the country ; 
and one week later, Commodore Sloat sailed home on 
board the Levant. 

Stockton was now in full command of the American 
fleet, aided by Commodore Dupont Meantime, Gen- 
eral Stephen W. Kearney had arrived at Monterey, 
crossing by way of New Mexico. He had orders from 
the United States government to take possession of 
and establish a government for California ; but, on his 
arrival, he found that Sloat, Stockton, and Fremont had 
already accomplished these things. 

One of the forces which conduced much to the suc- 
cessful military occupation of California was the arrival 
at San Francisco, on the 7th of March, 1 847, of Colonel 
Jonathan D. Stevenson, at the head of one thousand 
volunteers, raised in New York, to serve, during the 
war, in California. The conquest of California had 
taken place before the arrival of this regiment; but it. 
was of invaluable service to the State in maintaining 
order in the country. 

Early in 1846, it was agreed upon by the leading 
Mexican officials of the Territory of California, as pro- 
mulgated by the Departmental Assembly, that a con- 
vention should meet at Santa Barbara, on the 1 5th of 
June, 1846, to consider the future prospects of the 
country. Before this period arrived, the stars and 
stripes were hoisted by Fremont ; but before this, and 
before the authorities knew of Fremont's coming to the 
country, an informal meeting, held at Monterey, at the 
house of Don Jose Castro, fully developed that the 
people were ready for any form of government that 
would afford them protection and security from their' 
never-ceasing political turmoil. 
7 



98 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Following are a few extracts from speeches made by 
leading persons at this meeting : 

"Excellent Sirs, to what a deplorable condition is our country 
reduced ! Mexico, professing to be our mother and our protectress, 
has given us neither arms, nor money, nor the materials of war for 
our defence. She is not likely to do any thing in our behalf, 
although she is quite willing to afflict us with her extortionate min- 
ions, who come hither, in the guise of soldiers and civil officers, to 
harass and oppress our people. We possess a glorious country, 
capable of attaining a physical and moral greatness corresponding 
with the grandeur and beauty which an Almighty hand has stamped 
upon the face of our beloved California. But, although nature has 
been prodigal, it cannot be denied that we are not in a position to 
avail ourselves of her bounty. Our population is not large, and it 
is sparsely scattered over valley and mountain, covering an immense 
area of virgin soil, destitute of roads, and traversed with difficulty; 
hence it is hardly possible to collect an army of any considerable 
force. Our people are poor, as well as few, and cannot well 
govern themselves and maintain a decent show of sovereign power. 
Although we live in the midst of plenty, we lay up nothing ; but, 
tilling the earth in an imperfect manner, all our time is required to 
procure subsistence for ourselves and families. Thus circumstanced, 
we find ourselves threatened by hordes of Yankee immigrants, who 
have already begun to flock into our country, and whose progress 
we cannot arrest. Already have the wagons of that perfidious people 
scaled the almost inaccessible summit of the Sierra Nevada, crossed 
the entire continent, and penetrated the fruitful valley of the Sacra- 
mento. What that astonishing people will next undertake I cannot 
say, but, in whatever enterprise they embark, they will be sure to 
prove successful. Already are these adventurous land-voyagers 
spreading themselves far and wide over a country which seems suited 
to their taste. They are cultivating farms, establishing vineyards, 
erecting mills, sawing up lumber, building workshops, and doing a 
thousand other things which seem natural to them, but which Cali- 
fornians neglect or despise. What, then, are we to do? Shall we 
remain supine, while these daring strangers are overrunning our 
fertile plains, and gradually outnumbering and displacing us ? Shall 
these incursions go on unchecked, until we shall become strangers 
in our own land ? We cannot successfully oppose them by our own 



CALIFORNIA SEEKING PROTECTION. 



99 



unaided power, and the swelling tide of immigration renders the 
odds against us more powerful every day. We cannot stand alone 
against them, nor can we creditably maintain our independence 
even against Mexico ; but there is something which we can do, 
which will elevate our country, strengthen her at all points, and yet 
enable us to preserve our identity and remain masters of our own 
soil. Perhaps what I am about to suggest may seem to some faint- 
hearted and dishonorable. But to me it does not appear so. It is 
the last hope of a feeble people, struggling against a tyrannical gov- 
ernment which claims their submission at home, and threatened by 
bands of avaricious strangers from without, voluntarily to connect 
themselves with a power able and willing to defend and preserve 
them. It is the right and duty of the weak to demand support from 
the strong, provided the demand be made upon terms just to both 
parties. I see no dishonor in this last refuge of the oppressed and 
powerless, and I boldly avow that such is the step I would now have 
California take. There are two great powers in Europe which 
seem destined to divide between them the unappropriated countries 
of the world. They have large fleets and armies not unpractised in 
the art of war. Is it not better to connect ourselves with one of 
these powerful nations than to struggle on without hope as we are 
doing now? Is it not better that one of them should be invited to 
send a fleet and an army to protect California rather than we should 
fall an easy prey to the lawless adventurers who are overrunning 
our beautiful country? I pronounce for annexation to France or 
England." 

To this speech General Mariano G. Vallejo — a native 
Californian — replied as follows : 

"I cannot, gentlemen, coincide in opinion with the military and 
civil functionaries who have advocated the cession of our country to 
France or England. It is most true that to rely any longer upon 
Mexico to govern and defend us would be idle and absurd. To this 
extent I fully agree with my distinguished colleagues. It is true 
that we possess a noble country, every way calculated, from position 
and resources, to become great and powerful. For that very reason 
I would not have her a mere dependence upon a foreign monarchy, 
naturally alien, or at least indifferent to our interests and our wel- 
fare. . . . Even could we tolerate the idea of dependence, 
ought we to go to distant Europe for a master? What possible 



lOO THE GOLDEN STATE. 

sympathy could exist between us and a nation separated from us 
by two vast oceans ? But waiving this insuperable objection, how 
could we endure to come under the dominion of a monarch? . . 
We are republicans. Badly governed and badly situated as we are, 
still we are all, in sentiment, republicans. So far as we are gov- 
erned at all, we at least profess to be self-governed. Who, then, 
that possesses true patriotism, will consent to subject himself and 
children to the caprices of a foreign king and his official minions? 
Our position is so remote, either by land or sea, that we are 
in no danger from a Mexican invasion. Why, then, should we 
hesitate still to assert our independence? We have, indeed, taken 
the first step by electing our own governor ; but another remains to be 
taken. I will mention it plainly and distinctly : it is annexation 
to the United States. In contemplating this consummation of our 
destiny, I feel nothing but pleasure, and I ask you to share it. 
Discard old prejudices, disregard old customs, and prepare for the 
glorious change which awaits our country. Why should we shrink 
from incorporating ourselves with the happiest and freest nation in 
the world, destined soon to be the most wealthy and powerful? 
Why should we go abroad for protection, when this great nation is 
our adjoining neighbor? When we join our fortune to hers, we 
shall not become subjects, but fellow-citizens, possessing all the 
rights of the people of the United States, and choosing our own 
federal and local rulers. We shall have a stable government and 
just laws. California will grow strong and flourish, and her people 
will be prosperous, happy, and free. Look not, therefore, with 
jealousy upon the hardy pioneers, who scale our mountains and 
cultivate our unoccupied plains; but rather welcome them as 
brothers, who come to share with us a common destiny." 

From this period General Vallejo and his friends 
took active measures for the annexation of California 
to the United States. The general still resides in Cali- 
fornia, his native State, of which he is a loyal and 
honored citizen. 




THE OLP MISSION CHURCH AND OUT BUILDINGS, SAN FRANCISCO. 
(Founded in 1776.) 




GENERAL VIEW OP THE QUICKSILVER WORKS AT NEW ALMADEN. 
(Santa Clara County, California.) 



COMMODORE STOCKTON'S PROCLAMATION. IQI 



CHAPTER VII, 

Feud between Sloat and Fremont — Commodore Stockton in com- 
mand : his proclamation — Departure of Sloat — Castro, Pico, and 
Flores oppose the Americans — Stockton warns Castro of his peril 
— Flores' proclamation to his countrymen — Final surrender of the 
Mexicans — Treaty of peace concluded — Strife between Commo- 
dore Stockton and General Kearney — Fremont appointed Mili- 
tary Governor — Stockton takes his departure — Fremont ousted — 
General Kearney and Commodore Shubrick in command — Colonel 
Mason supersedes General Kearney — General Kearney proceeds 
to Washington — His ill-treatment of Fremont — Fremont arrested 
and carried to Fortress Monroe — Court-martialled — Discharged 
from arrest by order of the President — Nominated for the 
Presidency. 

The occupation of California by Commodore Sloat 
and the promulgation of his proclamation was official 
notice to the world that the territory of California was 
the property of the United States. This at once ended 
all effort or design of England or France to possess 
themselves of the country, and their fleets on the coast 
quietly withdrew. 

Notwithstanding that Fremont had confronted Castro, 
and had defended the Americans in the Sacramento 
valley, and had been appointed governor at Sonoma, 
and proclaimed California a part of the American Union 
before Sloat had entered and taken possession of Mon- 
terey, he found himself superseded by the commodore, 
who, now in the military occupation of the country, 
commanded Fremont to report to him, and demanded 
in no mild terms by what authority he was acting. Fre- 
mont, chagrined and disappointed, answered, "Upon 
my own authority." This was thought most presump- 
tuous on the part of the young captain of the corps of 



I02 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

topographical engineers, who had no military authority 
from his government. But Fremont had to succumb 
to the superior position of the commodore, who now 
assumed the duties of military governor. 

Fremont was now at Monterey at the head of his 
battalion, chafing with the mortification inflicted upon 
him by Sloat. The commodore, under his proclama- 
tion of July 7, was in supreme command, but ill-health 
prompted him to return home. 

On the 15th of July, 1847, Commodore Stockton, on 
board the United States frigate Congress, arrived at 
Monterey. Sloat turned over his command to Stock- 
ton, who immediately assumed command as Military 
Governor of California ; and, on the 28th of July, he 
issued the following proclamation : 

" On assuming the command of the forces of the United States 
on the coast of California, both by sea and land, I find myself in 
possession of the ports of Monterey and San Francisco, with daily 
reports from the interior of scenes of rapine, blood, and murder. 
Three inoffensive American residents of the country have within a 
few days been murdered in a most brutal manner ; and there are 
no Californian officers who will arrest and bring the murderers to 
justice, although it is well known who they are and where they are. 
I must, therefore, and will, as soon as I can, adopt such measures 
as may seem best calculated to bring these criminals to justice, and 
to bestow peace and good order on the country. 

" In the first place, however, I am constrained by every principle 
of national honor, as well as a due regard for the safety and best 
interests of the people of California, to put an end, at once and by 
force, to the lawless depredations committed by General Castro's 
men upon the persons and property of peaceful and unoffending 
inhabitants. 

" I cannot, therefore, confine my operations to the quiet and 
undisturbed possession of the defenceless ports of Monterey and 
San Francisco, whilst the people elsewhere are suffering from law- 
less violence; but will immediately march against these boasting 



COMMODORE STOCKTON'S PROCLAMATION. 103 

and abusive chiefs, (who have not only violated every principle of 
national hospitality and good faith towards Captain Fremont and 
his surveying party, but who, unless driven out, will, with the aid 
of the hostile Indians, keep this beautiful country in a constant 
state of revolution and bloodshed,) as well as against all others who 
maji be found in arms aiding and abetting General Castro. 

"The present general of the forces of California is an usurper i 
has been guilty of great offences ; has impoverished and drained 
the country of almost its last dollar ; and has deserted his post now 
when most needed. He has deluded and deceived the inhabitants 
of California, and they with his expulsion from the country. He 
came into power by rebellion and force, and by force he must be 
expelled. Mexico appears to have been compelled, from time to 
time, to abandon California to the mercies of any wicked man who 
could muster one hundred men in arm>. The distances from the 
capital are so great that she cannot, even in times of great distress, 
send timely aid to the inhabitants; and the lawless depredations 
upon their persons and property go invariably unpunished. She 
cannot or will not punish or control the chieftains who, one after 
the other, have defied her power and kept California in a constant 
state of revolt and misery. 

" The inhabitants are tired and disgusted with this constant suc- 
cession of military usurpers, and this insecurity of life and property. 
They invoke my protection. Therefore upon them I will not make 
war. I require, hoAvever, all officers, civil and military, and all 
other persons, to remain quiet at their respective homes and stations, 
and to obey the orders they may receive from me or by my author- 
ity ; and if they do no injury or violence to my authority, none 
will be done to them." 

Commodore Sloat, on the 23d of July, sailed home 
on the LevafU, leaving Stockton in full command, who 
immediately organized a battalion of mounted riflemen ; 
and Fremont, who could not even receive a recognition 
from Sloat, was appointed major, and, at the head of 
his corps of one hundred and sixty men, embarked on 
board the United States sloop-of-war Cyane for San 
Diego, to quell a strong opposition organized against 
the American occupation of the country, headed by 



I04 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

General Castro, Governor Pico, and Don Jose Marid 
Flores, whose forces, until January 1 6, 1 847, demanded 
all the energy and vigilance of Stockton, General 
Kearney, Fremont, and Gillespie, to hold them in sub- 
jection. The final overthrow of this opposition, ex- 
tending over a vast territory, deprived of every means 
of transportation, with only about three hundred men 
against twelve hundred or fifteen hundred well-mounted 
and most expert cavalry of the enemy, reflects in its 
details the highest credit upon the bravery, skill, and 
fidelity of John C. Fremont, Commodore Stockton, and 
their officers and men. 

The bulletins and proclamations issued by the con- 
tending parties were often of an exciting and belliger- 
ent tone ; a few samples of which are here given. 

Commodore Stockton, on leaving Monterey to chas- 
tise Castro, said, in one of his proclamations : " Imme- 
diately march against the boasting and abusive chiefs, 
who had not only violated every principle of national 
hospitality and good faith toward Captain Fremont, 
but who, unless driven out, would keep this beautiful 
country in a constant state of revolution and blood- 
shed, as well as against all others who might be found 
in arms aiding and abetting General Castro." And 
again : "Tell Castro he must unconditionally surrender, 
or experience my vengeance." 

The following proclamation, issued by Flores, will 
show how tenaciously some at least of the native Cali- 
fornians opposed American occupation of California: 

'^'^ Mexican Army, Section of Operations, 

"Angeles, October i, 1846. 

" Fellow-Citizens : It is a month and a half that, by lament- 
able fatality, fruit of the cowardice and inability of the first author- 



FL ORES ' PR CLAMA TION. 



105 



ities of the department, we behold ourselves subjugated and op- 
pressed by- an insignificant force of adventurers of the United 
States of America, and placing us in a worse condition than that 
of slaves. 

"They are dictating to us despotic and arbitrary laws, and load- 
ing us with contributions and onerous burdens, which have for an 
object the ruin of our industry and agriculture, and to force us to 
abandon our property, to be possessed and divided among them- 
selves. 

"And shall we be capable to allow ourselves to be subjugated, 
and to accept, by our silence, the weighty chains of slavery ? Shall 
we permit to be lost the soil inherited from our fathers, which cost 
them so much blood and so many sacrifices ? Shall we make our 
families victims of the most barbarous slavery? Shall we wait to 
see our wives violated — our innocent children punished by the 
American whips — our property sacked — our temples profaned — and, 
lastly, to drag through an existence full of insult and shame ? No ! 
a thousand times no ! Countrymen, first death ! 

"Who of you does not feel his heart beat with violence, who 
does not feel his blood boil, to contemplate our situation ? And 
who will be the Mexican who will not feel indignant, and who will 
not rise to take up arms to destroy our oppressors? We believe 
there is not one so vile and cowardly. With such a motive the 
majority of the inhabitants of the districts, justly indignant against 
our tyrants, raise the cry of war, with arms in their hands, and of 
one accord swear to sustain the following articles : 

" I. We, the inhabitants of the Department of California, as 
menabers of the great Mexican nation, declare that it is and has 
been our wish to belong to her alone, free and independent. 

" 2. Consequently the authorities intended and named by the 
invading forces of the United States are held null and void. 

" 3. All the North Americans being enemies of Mexico, we swear 
not to lay down our arms till they are expelled from the Mexican 
territory. 

"4. All Mexican citizens, from the age of fifteen to sixty, who 
do not take up arms to forward the present plan, are declared 
traitors, and under pain of death. 

"5. Every Mexican or foreigner who may directly or indirectly 
aid the enemies of Mexico will be punished in the same manner. 

" 6. The property of the North Americans in the department. 



I06 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

who may directly or indirectly have taken part with or aided the 
enemies, shall be confiscated, and used for the expenses of the war, 
and their persons shall be taken to the interior of the republic. 

"7. All those who may oppose the present plan will be punished 
with arms. 

" 8. All the inhabitants of Santa Barbara and the district of the 
north will be invited immediately to adhere to the present plan. 

" Jose Ma. Flores. 

"Camp in Angeles, September 24, 1846." 

On the 1 6th day of January, 1847, ^^ war waged 
by the Cahfornians under Castro, Pico, and Flores was 
brought to a close by the flight of Flores to Mexico, 
and the capitulation of Castro, Pico, and their forces to 
Fremont. Commissioners were appointed on both 
sides to arrange terms of peace. The Californians 
acknowledged the supreme authority of the Americans, 
and the Americans promised protection of life and 
property to all Californians and Mexicans of every 
class and condition, regardless of former acts of hos- 
tility. All prisoners on both sides were released, pa- 
roles cancelled, and all parties to stand upon an equal 
footing whilst submissive to the authority of the United 
States. This treaty, concluded by Fremont while his 
two superiors. Commodore Stockton and General Kear- 
ney, were in the face of the enemy but a few miles 
distant, was a bold and presumptuous act, at once defi- 
ant and destructive 'of the official dignity of his supe- 
riors. But a victory so easily won, and so effectually 
ending a strife carried on under most unfavorable cir- 
cumstances by the Americans, and at once placing the 
flag of the republic in triumph over so vast a field, was 
not to be despised ; and the good sense of Stockton 
and Kearney led them to accede to the situation, leav- 
ing to Fremont the laurels so boldly won. The Amer- 



TREATY OF SETTLEMENT. 



107 



lean conquest was complete, and the war in California 
at an end. 

Fremont, on the i6th day of January, 1847, signing 
himself "Military Commandant of California," approved 
the treaty, which was signed on the part of the Amer- 
icans by Major P. B. Reading, Colonel W. H. Russell, 
and Captain Louis McLean ; and on the part of the 
Californians by Jose Antonio Carrillo, Augustine Oli- 
vera, and Andres Pico, " Commandant of Squadron 
and Chief of the National Forces of California." 

Now came a serious conflict of rank and jurisdiction 
between General Kearney and Commodore Stockton ; 
Kearney claiming that his instructions from Washington, 
to take charge of California and establish a govern- 
ment, placed him in authority as military governor, and 
the superior of both Fremont and Stockton. Stockton 
had taken possession of the country, and was acting 
as military governor before Kearney arrived in the 
country, and claimed to rank Kearney. Fremont de- 
cided to report to Stockton, which he did on his enter- 
ing Los Angeles, on January 14, 1847. On the i6th, 
two days later, Stockton appointed Fremont Military 
Governor, and W. H. Russell Secretary, of the new 
Territory. Stockton in a few days departed from the 
port of San Pedro for the coast of Mexico. 

Fremont now found himself comfortably enjoying 
the dignity of governor, and the title of the conqueror 
of California. But there was trouble ahead little 
dreamed of. General Kearney was chafing at the 
indignity offered him by Fremont reporting to Stock- 
ton, and at Stockton placing Fremont as Military 
Governor of the Territory, and was determined to be 
revenged. 



I08 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Kearney departed for Monterey. Here he found 
Commodore Shubrick, on board the United States ship 
of war hidependence. Kearney and Shubrick were now 
in possession of official authority from their govern- 
ment, appointing the former MiHtary Governor of Cali- 
fornia, and the latter supervisor of customs, port charges, 
and naval affairs. On the ist day of March, 1847, 
these two officials made a joint proclamation, setting 
forth their official positions, and forwarded a copy of 
the document to Governor Fremont, whose brief gu- 
bernatorial star of less than two months was eclipsed 
forever. Kearney, from this date, entered upon the 
duties of his new office as Military Governor of 
California. 

Fremont, aware of the official authority by which 
Kearney was acting, obeyed the orders of his new 
superior; but the officers and men of Fremont's battal- 
ion, and indeed the whole native population, felt so 
indignant at what they conceived to be an outrage per- 
petrated on Fremont, that there was much danger of 
another outbreak. 

Important events were now transpiring with great 
rapidity. Colonel Mason had arrived from Washington 
with instructions to relieve General Kearney, assume 
military command, and relieve Fremont from all con- 
nection with the army, allowing him either to pursue 
his explorations northward or to join his regiment and 
obey the commands of the new military governor. 
Here ended the two months military reign of General 
Kearney, who, on the 19th of June, 1847, started on 
his journey overland to Washington, compelling the 
ill-treated Fremont to turn over to another his survey- 
ing instruments, sold all the horses he had collected. 



OFFICIAL FEUDS. 



109 



refused him permission to join his (Kearney's) regi- 
ment, and obliged him to follow in the wake of his 
(Kearney's) trail across the plains, and to encamp at 
night never more than one mile from Kearney. This 
was a most humiliating position, but Fremont was 
obeying the orders of his superior officer. Kearney 
was determined to crush him, and at Fort Leavenworth 
Fremont was arrested, carried to Fortress Monroe, 
where a court-martial found him guilty of disobedience 
mutinous and disorderly conduct, and sentenced him to 
forfeit his commission. President Polk, however, ap- 
proving the findings and decisions, discharged Fremont 
from arrest, and requested him to report for duty ; but 
Fremont, regarding the whole situation as an outrage 
and an insult, resigned his commission, and returned 
to private life: not to be forgotten, however, for the 
majority of the people of the country considered him 
the pioneer conqueror of California, and a much-abused 
man, and, in respect of his eminent service, and the 
sympathy consequent upon a real or supposed perse- 
cution, he was placed at the head of the ticket for 
President of the United States by the Republicans in 
1857, when he received 1,341,514 of the popular vote 
to 1,832,232 by Buchanan, the successful Democratic 
candidate. 



no THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Colonel Mason and General Riley in command of the government 
of California — End of tlie Mexican war — Acquisition of Texas 
and New Mexico — Treaiy between the United States and Mexico 
— Boundary established — Convention to frame a State Constitu- 
tion meets at Monterey — California admitted into the Union — 
Treaty between England and the United States defining western 
boundary — Claims of Portugal to California — Claims of Spain — 
Pope Alexander VI settles the dispute — Treaty between Spain 
and Portugal — A bull from the Pope — Chain of title to California 
— Speech of Hon. Thomas H, Benton on the boundary question 
— Treaty stipulations — Rulers under Spanish, Mexican, and 
United States governments in California — English, French, and 
American Consuls in California. 

Colonel Richard B. Mason, who succeeded General 
Kearney as Military Governor of California, assumed 
command on the 31st of May, 1847, ^'^^ continued in 
office until the 13th day of April, 1849; when he was 
succeeded by General Bennet Riley, who entered upon 
the office of military governor, under whose administra- 
tion affairs were conducted until California was admitted 
as a State into the Union, on the 9th of September, 
1850. 

The war between the United States and Mexico, 
which began by the battle of Palo Alto, on the 8th of 
May, 1846, and ended with the fall of the city of Mexico, 
on the 14th of September, 1847, ^^^ which secured 
to the United States Texas and New Mexico, afforded 
little opportunity for the government to quell disturb- 
ances or establish a government in the then inaccessi- 
ble land of California. 

At the close of the Mexican war, a treaty was entered 
into between the United States and Mexico, defining 










■..T.r^nv^^.^f 




DENNISON'S exchange AXD the PARKER HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO. 
(Before the Fire of December 1349. Parker House rented for $120,000 a year in 1849. 




ISLAND AND a)VE OF YERBU BUENA, IN 1 847. 
f'Citv of San Francisco built on the C(^ve 



MILITARY RULE IN CALIFORNIA. Ill 

the southern boundary of the United States, and ceding 
a vast portion of the northern territory of Mexico. . By 
the terms of this treaty, the line dividing the repubUc 
of Mexico and the United States was declared to be 
the Rio Grande, to the thirty-second parallel ; thence 
westward along the southern line of New Mexico to 
the Gila river ; thence following that stream until it 
joined the Rio Colorado ; thence westward to the 
Pacific ocean south ot San Diego about one league, and 
in latitude thirty-two and a-half; the United States 
paying fifteen million dollars to Mexico, and adopting 
the claims of citizens of the United States against that 
country. This treaty, ceding New Mexico and Cali- 
fornia, and defining the southern boundary of the United 
States, was dated at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
February 2, 1848; exchanged at Oueretaro, May 30, 
1848; ratified by the United States, March 16, 1848; 
and officially proclaimed by the President, July 4, 1848; 
and thus the tide of the United States to New Mexico 
and California was complete. 

Meantime, General Riley, as military governor, con- 
tinued to rule California. On June 3, he issued a proc- 
lamation calling a State Convention to frame a con- 
stitution. The convention assembled at Monterey, 
on Monday, September i, 1849. The constitution was 
adopted October 10, 1849, ^fi<^ ratified November 13, 
1849. Or^ the 20th of December, 1849, General Riley 
proclaimed the election of the new governor under the 
constitution, and resigned his position as military gov- 
ernor ; and, by act of the United States Congress, Cali- 
fornia, without going through the probationary stages 
of a civil territorial government, was, on the 9di day of 
September, 1850, admitted into the Union. 



112 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

During the early part of the conquest of California, 
the western boundary of the whole American posses- 
sions was undefined, and a source of danger between 
England and the United States ; but happily, on the 
15th of June, 1846, a treaty was concluded between the 
two nations, confirming the western boundary of the 
American republic, and also confirming the title of the 
United States to the Territory of Oregon, the boundary 
line being "the forty-ninth degree of latitude from the 
Stony mountains west to the middle of the channel 
which separates Vancouver island from the continent ; 
thence southerly through the middle of the channel 
and to Fuca straits to the Pacific ocean." 

The more fully to define and illustrate to the reader 
the origin of the legal Spanish and American titles to 
California, and to understand the chain of titles, let it 
be remembered that the Portuguese, previous to the 
discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, had dis- 
covered the Azore islands, in longitude thirty-one west; 
in consequence of which, all the discoveries made by 
Columbus were claimed to belong to the crown of 
Portugal, and that Spain had no title to them and that 
her subjects should be excluded from these possessions. 
This proposition was rejected by Spain. The dispute 
upon the right of possession between Spain and Por- 
tugal to these countries was referred to Pope Alexander 
VI — the law of nations and the adopted law of the 
world then recognizing the pope as the ultimate '=;ource 
of all temporal power. He was king of kings, making 
and unmaking them and their possessions at will, with- 
out recourse upon the part of the dethroned. The 
origin and source of all landed titles was conceded to 
be in his infallible holiness. 



TITLE TO CALIFORNIA. 



113 



On the 3d day of May, A. D. 1493, the pope rendered 
his decision between the crowns of Spain and Portugal. 
By his decree, all countries inhabited by infidels, already 
discovered by or which might be discovered by the 
Spanish, west of one hundred leagues west of the 
Azores, he granted to Spain ; and all lying east of that 
line to Portugal. In 1494, a treaty between the Kings 
of Spain and Portugal moved this boundary two hun- 
dred and seventy leagues further west. The bounda- 
ries thus established continued to be respected by all 
nations; and, when an infringement of it was attempted 
through the avarice of King Henry VII of England, who 
attempted to possess himself of a portion of the terri- 
tory granted to Spain, a bull from his holiness the pope 
caused him to abandon his designs. Thus it will be 
seen that the chain of title to California was, first, by 
the discoveries of Spain and Portugal ; then by the 
decree and division by Pope Alexander granting it to 
Spain ; from Spain to Mexico by revolution ; from 
Mexico by conquest and treaty to the United States. 

In conjunction and illustration of the foregoing his- 
tory of American title and claim to the northern boun- 
dary of the republic, the following extracts from a 
speech delivered in the United States Senate, on the 
1 2th day of January, 1843, by the Hon. Thomas H.. 
Benton, may serve a good purpose. 

Mr. Benton, speaking upon the northern boundary 
question, said: 

" — The treaties of 1803 and 1819;- the former with France, by 
which we acquired Louisiana; the latter with Spain, by which we 
acquired all her rights on the northwest coast of America north of 
forty-two degrees. By the first of these treaties we became a party 
to the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht between France and 
8 



114 "^^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

England, the treaty of peace of 17 14, which terminated the wars 
of Queen Anne and Louis XIV, and settled all their differences of 
every kind in Europe and America, and undertook to prevent the 
recurrence of future differences between them. The tenth article 
of this treaty applied to their settlements and territories in North 
America, and directed commissioners to be appointed to mark and 
define their possessions. These commissioners did their work. 
They drew a line from ocean to ocean, to separate the French and 
British dominions, and to prevent further encroachments and col- 
lisions. This line began on the coast of Labrador, and followed 
a course slightly southwest to the centre of North America, leaving 
the British settlements of Hudson bay to the north, and the French 
Canadian possessions to the south. This line took for a landmark 
the Lake of the Woods, which was then believed to be due east 
from the head of the Mississippi ; and from that point took the 
forty-nitith parallel of latitude indefinitely to the west. The language 
is ^indefinitely;^ and this established the northern boundary of 
Louisiana, and erected a wall beyond which future French settle- 
ments could not cross to the north nor British to the south. 

"As purchasers of Louisiana, the treaty of 1803 made us a party 
to the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht, and made the forty-ninth 
parallel the same to us and the British which it had been to the French 
and the British : it became a wall which neither party could pass, 
so far as it depended upon that line." 

California, from her permanent occupation by Spain 
and the establishment of her rule in 1767, to 1822 — a 
term of fifty-five years — had ten Governors. Under 
twenty-four years of Mexican rule — from 1822 to 1846 
— she had thirteen governors; and under the American 
military rule of four years — from July 7, 1846, to Sep- 
tember 9, 1850 — had six military governors. 

But three nations had appointed consuls in California 
previous to the American occupation of the country. 
In 1843, Thomas O. Larkin, an American, who arrived 
in California in 1836, was appointed United States 
consul, which office he held until July 7, 1846, when 



CONSULS IN CALIFORNIA. I 1 5 

Commodore Sloat took possession of the country in 
the name of the United States. In 1844, James A. 
Forbes was appointed the first consul from Great 
Britain, which office he still held at the time of the 
American occupation. In May, 1845, Don Louis Gas- 
quet was appointed French consul, which office he held 
until 1847, when he was succeeded by M. Movenhaut. 
All these officers resided at the Mexican capital of the 
Territory, Monterey. 



Il6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER IX. 

California under American rule — Population in 1842 and 1845 — 
Arrival of Mormons at San Francisco — Population in 1848 — In 
1870 — Composition of population of San Francisco in 1842 — 
Establishment of Mission Dolores — First house built in San Fran- 
cisco — First child born — Hudson Bay Company at San Francisco 
— First newspaper in California — First school — First Protestant 
minister — First Protestant church — First steamboat — Discovery 
of gold — Sutter and Marshall — First mining — Rush to the mines 
— Official notice of the gold discovery — Early gold-seekers — 
Advent of the Chinese. 

No sooner was California in the possession of the 
Americans, and the flag of the republic waving its pro- 
tecting folds over the land, than new life was infused 
into every branch of commerce, trade, and industry; 
and the Spanish, Mexicans, and Indians began to seek 
seclusion or oblivion before the march of the invader, 
who laughed at the tame realities of life, so soon to give 
place to scenes of commercial enterprise, industry, 
speculation, and wild excitement hitherto unknown in 
the annals of history. 

The total white population of California, in 1845, is 
estimated to have been about eio-ht thousand. Durinor 
the years 1846 and 1847, considerable emigration had 
found its way from Oregon, over the Rocky mountains, 
and by sea. 

On the 31st of July, 1846, the ship Brooklyn, from 
New York, with about two hundred and thirty Mor- 
mons, under the leadership of Samuel Brannan, arrived 
at San Francisco, with the intention of founding a Mor- 
mon settlement. 

At the beginning of 1848. it was estimated that the 




SUTTER'S mill, WUKR]-: >L\RSnALL DISCOVERED THE FIRST GOLD IN 
CALIFORNIA, JANUARY Ig, 1S48. 




FRONT STRKKT, SA(-RAMFNTO CITY, 185O. 



POPULA TION OF CALIFORNIA. I I 7 

•whole white population of California, of all nations, was 
about fourteen thousand. At this period (1870) it is 
about six hundred thousand. The population of San 
Francisco, in 1842, was only one hundred and ninety-six 
persons — seventy-six men, forty-two women, forty-two 
boys, and thirty-six girls. The census taken in this 
year gives the name, age, birthplace, sex, and occupation 
of each person, in which there were in all but twenty- 
six foreigners, as follows : ten Americans, four English- 
men, four Sandwich Islanders, two Germans, two Irish- 
men, and of Manilla, Peru, France, and Scotland, one 
each. No lawyers, insurance agents, dentists, tailors, 
hatters, dressmakers, real estate agents, doctors, or 
undertakers appear in the list. The marked improve- 
ment and growth of San Francisco continued steadily 
from the date of the American conquest. Although the 
Mission Dolores (now in the city limits of San Fran- 
cisco) was established in 1776, there was not a solitary 
sign of life or settlement about the bay or beach of 
Yerba Buena cove, now the heart of the city of San 
Francisco, until 1835, when a tent made of old sails 
was erected by Captain W. A. Richardson. On the 
4th of July of the following year, Jacob P. Leese erected 
a small frame building adjoining Richardson's house, in 
which was born, April 15, 1838, Rosalie Leese, the first 
child born at Yerba Buena, (good herb,) now San Fran- 
cisco, and the city was started. At this point, a small 
depot of the Hudson Bay Company was established, 
which, however, disappeared in 1846. In January, 1847, 
San Francisco had a population of four hundred and 
fifty-nine persons of all classes — three hundred and 
twenty-nine males and one hundred and thirty-eight 
females ; of these three hundred and seventy-five were 



Il8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

whites, thirty-four Indians, forty Sandwich Islanders, 
and ten negroes — eighty-four colored. The whites 
represented the following nations: United States, two 
hundred and twenty-eight; California, thirty-eight; 
Mexico, two; Canada, five; Chili, two; England, 
twenty-two ; Germany, twenty-seven ; France, three ; 
Ireland, fourteen ; Scotland, fourteen ; Switzerland, six; 
at sea, four; and of New Holland, New Zealand, Malta, 
Denmark, Peru, Russia, Poland, Sweden, and West 
Indies, one each. At this period the trades and pro- 
fessions were beginning to be represented : a minister, 
a schoolmaster, two surveyors, three lawyers, and three 
doctors represented the professions ; many of the trades 
were represented. 

A weekly newspaper, published by Samuel Brannan 
and edited by E. P. Jones, called the California Star^ 
was the first newspaper published in San Francisco ; 
but as early as August 15, 1846, Messrs. Colton and 
Semple had started the Califofjtia7t — the first paper 
published in CaHfornia — at Monterey. In May, 1847, 
this journal was transferred to San Francisco, 

San Francisco was fast assuming a city appearance. 
In March, 1848, it contained two hundred houses, and 
a population of eight hundred and fifty souls. A public 
school — the first in California — had been opened on the 
3d of April, 1848, by Thomas Douglas. On November 
15, 1848, the first steamer ever upon the waters of San 
Francisco bay — a small boat taken from Sitka by Cap- 
tain Leidesdorff — made a trial trip around the bay. In 
October, 1848, the first Protestant church in California 
was established by Rev. T. Dwight Hunt at San Fran- 
cisco. Mr. Hunt was a Presbyterian minister, who 
came from the Sandwich islands, and was tlie first Prot- 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. II9 

estant minister in California. There was no regular 
church organization : Mr. Hunt preached in the school- 
house. 

Although the first gold had been discovered by James 
W. Marshall, at Sutter's mill, on the American river, as 
early as the 19th of January, 1848, no news of the fact 
had reached San Francisco until February following, 
when the crash came which sent its echo throughout 
the world, and drew within the circle of California people 
of every part of the globe. The great event which 
brougrht the almost unknown and distant land of Cali- 
fornia to the notice of the world, and produced in so 
brief a period such scenes of excitement and commer- 
cial advantages, was the discovery of gold. 

In the fall of 1847, Captain John A. Sutter, a Swiss 
by birth, and a man of great adventure and many ster- 
ling qualities, who arrived in San Francisco July 2, 1839, 
and located in the following year at New Helvetia, near 
Sacramento, was erecting a saw-mill at a place called 
Coloma, about fifty miles east of Sacramento City, on 
the American river, which empties into the Sacramento. 
James W. Marshall had contracted for the erecting of 
the mill, and he and his men were at work in cutting 
and widening the tail-race : to effect this, he let the 
water of the river through the cut, which in its course 
carried away quantities of earth and sand. In cleaning 
portions of this away, Marshall observed some particles 
of yellow glittering substance : these he examined 
through curiosity. This was on the 19th day of Janu- 
ary, 1 848. A piece of gold, weighing about six penny- 
weights, was carried by Marshall, in about two weeks, 
to Captain Sutter, who examined it without much belief 



I20 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of its value. Much doubt of its being gold still rested 
among all who saw the ** stuff;" and Sutter seems to 
have reearded Marshall as insane when he insisted that 
it was gold. 

In February following, specimens of the new discovery 
were carried to San Francisco. Here an old Georgian 
gold-miner — Isaac Humphrey — saw it, and at sight 
pronounced it gold, and at once prepared to start for 
the new gold-fields. His persuasions failed to induce 
any of his friends to accompany him : they laughed at. 
the idea, so he was compelled to start alone ; and, on 
the 7th of March, 1848, reached the place of discovery. 
The news had now spread among the workmen and 
others in the vicinity of the discovery of " some curious 
yellow stuff." Humphrey, on March 8, commenced 
prospecting, and soon confirmed his belief of the nature 
of the discovery. Soon the workmen abandoned the 
sawino- of the lumber and erectingf of the mill, and 
plunged into the new labor, now paying from five to 
fifty dollars per day to the hand. Through the spring 
and summer of 1848, the news of the discovery reached 
San Francisco and every hamlet in California and Ore- 
gon, and the excitement became intense; and from 
every direction the pilgrims wended their way to the 
new Mecca — the gold-fields. The scattering popula- 
tion of the valleys caught up the excitement: wild stories 
of fabulous discoveries had reached them : fields of 
standing grain were left to fall to the ground ; cattle, 
farms, wives, and children, all abandoned. The news 
continued to spread. Quantities of the precious metal 
were in the hands of miners, reporting that all could 
make from ten to one hundred dollars a day ; in some 




JAMES W. MARSHALL, 1)ISCU\ I Rl R OF OOLD IN (_ALI1 URM/v, JANUAl. / I'\ lo^C 




rrA, n*>^»i"'- 



H0NF:ST MINERS " GOING HOME, IN 1S5O.' 







SURl-ACE GOLD MINING IN CALItORNIA IN 1S49 




/:m 



^^ lie 
















INTEKKiR OF THE "EL rKJRADO," GAMBLINC. HOUSE. 
(On Kearney Street facing the Plaza, in 1C49. j 



RUSH FOR THE GOLD MINES. 121 

cases, many thousands. This was too much. Who 
could endure it? A dollar and a dollar and a-half per 
day were the wages of laborers and mechanics at San 
Francisco. It was only one hundred and twenty miles 
up the river to Sacramento, and from there a few miles 
to the mines. All hands — the schoolmaster, butcher, 
baker, lawyer, doctor, and merchant — started up the 
Sacramento river. The whole village was on the march: 
only the few women and children remained. The two 
newspaper offices closed : even the devil was amongst 
them, as some of them fully realized before they got 
through. Oregon's sturdy settlers made their long 
pilgrimage from the north, over snow-capped moun- 
tains and lonely deserts. Up from the lower portion 
of the State came the native Californian mounted on 
his faithful steed, the half-breed, and the Indian. Now 
from Mexico came the miner, vaquero, and desperado. 
Up from Chili and Peru came the speculator, gambler, 
and courtesan. Over the Rocky mountains came the 
long lines of the emigrant trains, working their tedious 
march over almost precipitous mountains of eternal 
snows and arid deserts of alkali and quicksands, leaving 
behind them the new-made grave, and the bleaching 
bones of their famished and overburdened brutes, to 
tell the sad story of their weary journey, and to mark 
the path of the future traveller over the sandy deserts 
of the Humboldt. 

The few vessels that could find sailors to take them 
from the coast spread the news wherever they touched. 
The inhabitants of the lonely and unfrequented islands 
of the seas heard the glad tidings of the land of gold. 

Official announcement was made of the rich dis- 



122 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

coveries in the halls of Congress ; and, as the news 
spread through the American republic, the people 
seemed spell-bound and charmed — maddened to em- 
brace the element of social power. The peculiar men- 
tal and physical temperament of the American, his 
activity, and excitability, well fitted him to become the 
subject of what now assumed the form of a painful 
disease. No class was exempt from the ravages of the 
new mania ; so, from Maine to the Mississippi, occupa- 
tions were abandoned ; the judge, lawyer, doctor, mer- 
chant, banker, mechanic, farmer, mariner, and laborer 
bade adieu to startled friends, hurriedly kissed weeping 
wife and child, bade them farewell, and across the 
plains, over the Isthmus, around the Horn, joined the 
Iiurrying throng, bound for California. 

From England, Germany, France, Russia, and Spain, 
came the gold-seeker. Australia and Van Dieman's 
Land let loose their penal colonists. The islands of 
the sea sent forth their stranofe-lookin^ inhabitants of 
various hues, complexions, and tongues. The Turk 
and the Greek joined in the throng. From across the 
deep sea came a strange people, the seal of whose 
national exclusiveness had never been broken until 
touched by the magic shock of gold in the sands and 
hills of the new world. They were a peculiar people. 
The similarity of physical organization, the long, coarse, 
black hair braided in a solitary cue behind, with shaven 
crown, almond eye, yellow face, and mechanical, meas- 
ured step, told of a race whose primeval order had 
never been disturbed by any other branch of the human 
family. Their strange and inharmonious voice and un- 
known tongue seemed to startle the most stoical of all 



EARLY GOLD HUNTERS. 



123 



the races of men, whilst their singular costume gave 
them more the appearance of beings of another sphere 
than the inhabitants of earth. In silent, sullen mood 
with all mankind, and without knowing the sound of a 
voice of any of the many nationalities with whom they 
were to associate, or being able to convey either by 
word or gesture a single thought, want, or idea to any 
save their own race, they, with their kettles, rice, hea- 
then gods, and chop-sticks, joined in the ever-lengthen- 
ing procession of strange-looking beings, and set their 
face towards the reputed land of gold. 



124 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER X. 

Population of California in 1849 — Rush to the mines — Gold yield 
of 1S48 — Population and scenes of San Francisco in 1849 — Ships 
for California — Overland emigration — Across the Isthmus — 
Arrival of first steamer — Commerce in 1849 — Occupations of the 
people — Gray-shirt brigade — Ships at a discount — Up the Sacra- 
mento river — Early disappointments — Gambling — Gold product 
— Gold excitements — Honesty of the "forty-niners" — Lynch 
law — Prices in the mines — Cultivation of the soil — Cattle — Eggs 
— Fruit — All "going home in the spring" — Indians in the mines 
— Yankee speculators — Suffering and disappointments in the mines 
— Miners going home. 

The year 1849 ^s a period ever memorable in the 
history of California; and there are few portions of the 
civilized globe which cannot find among its inhabitants 
those who can date from that year the departure of 
dear friends bound for California whose faces they have 
never again beheld. 

The excitement of the gold discovery in 1848 had, 
up to January i, 1849, rnore than doubled the popula- 
tion of California. At this period the total population 
was estimated at twenty-six thousand — thirteen thou- 
sand natives, eight thousand Americans, and five thou- 
sand of all other nations. During the year 1848, ten 
million dollars in gold had been extracted from the 
mines, principally from the Yuba, Feather, and Ameri- 
can rivers, and the gulches thereabout; the rocker, 
shovel, prospecting-pan, and crevice-knife, being the 
only machinery employed. 

In San Francisco and throughout the country the 
excitement was intense; but, up to the spring of 1849, 
it was confined to the small population on the coast, 
most of whom had been in California for many years. 




SAN FRANCISCO IN 1S49. 




CELEBRATTNc; THE FIRST FOURTH OF JULY, AT THE FIRST Hf)USK 
IN SAN FRANCISCO, 1 836. 



EARLY GOLD EXCLTEMENT. I 25 

But, in the spring of 1849, there was a new stimulus. 
The city of San Francisco, In January, 1849, ^*^<^ ^ 
population of two thousand, most of whom were pre- 
paring to go to the mines when the rainy season would 
be over. How little did they dream of the flood of 
human beings to be let loose upon them ! Already the 
ocean was dotted with sails from every nation of the 
globe, all heading for distant California. The gallant 
ship, with impatient crew and passengers, was buffeting 
the gales of Cape Horn, or seeking a passage through 
Magellan's straits. The trade winds of the North 
Pacific were bearing before them hordes of strange 
beings from Asia and the islands of the seas. The 
eager Yankee, with bowie-knife and revolver attached, 
was threading the serpentine course of the miasmatic 
Chagres, or belaboring his stubborn mule through the 
jungles of the Isthmus ; or, by the tedious journey of 
the plains, following the dusty line of the meandering 
ox-team, as he anxiously cast his wistful eyes toward 
the promised land in the direction of the setting sun. 

On the 28th of February, 1849, the pioneer steamship 
of the ocean line of American passenger ships — The 
California — arrived at San Francisco from New York. 
She was followed by the steamship Oregon from 
New York, which, with three hundred and fifty pas- 
sengers, arrived on the 31st of March following. The 
steamship Panama, with a load of passengers, arrived 
August 4. 

The floodgates of commerce and population were 
now open, and through them poured a torrent of human 
beings upon the little village of San Francisco, with Its 
few adobe and frame houses, nestling around the beach 
and sand-hills. Ships were daily arriving with full car- 



126 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

goes of merchandise : no wharves, warehouses, stores, 
streets, offices, lumber, or labor were to be had at any 
piice. July, 1849, found the Bay of San Francisco 
filling with the ships of every nation, and the Golden 
Gate received a continuous stream of shipping. The 
flags of every nation, with the peculiar marine architec- 
ture, customs, costumes, and language of the new- 
comers, lent a romantic aspect to a scene fearfully wild 
and disordered, in consequence of the haste and anxiety 
of ^// to start for the mines ; for now the most fabulous 
stories, with the fact of the arrival of millions of dollars 
in gold-dust, wrought the public mind into a feverish 
delirium. Five hundred square-rigged vessels lay in 
the harbor, with half a mile of mud-flats between them 
and high-water mark — Montgomery street; but one 
wharf, Broadway, to accommodate this fleet. Agents 
and consignees of these valuable ships and cargoes 
found the crews (sometimes including officers) take 
to the small boats as soon as the anchor was dropped, 
and head for the Sacramento river toward the new 
diggings. Lighters, scows, and boats had to land these 
cargoes, but what could be done ? Of the few convey- 
ances of this character, none could be had but at fabu- 
lous prices. Laborers, who, a year ago, would have 
been glad to have received one dollar and a-half a day, 
now demanded from twenty to thirty dollars. There 
were no laborers : one man was as good as another — 
they were "in a free country:" who would labor for 
hire, when he could go to the mines and become a million- 
naire? Still they came: more ships, more people; 
no room, no lodgings, no lumber, nobody to saw lum- 
ber ; no forests supposed to be in the country, nobody 
thinking 2i!c>o\iX forests. Carpenters, blacksmiths, team- 



EARLY GOLD EXCLTEMENT. I 27 

sters, clerks, sailors, or soldiers, as soon as they touched 
Imid — all became mifiers. Ho ! for the mines ! 

The scramble now became powerfully intense : every- 
body on the run unless stuck in the mud or deep sand. 
Off came the coats of the merchants, speculators, doc- 
tors, and preachers, carrying, lugging, wheeling boxes, 
goods, and boards, erecting tents of canvas and old 
sails, tin, raw-hides, blankets, and even of body clothing. 
The stove-pipe hat, black clothes, and white shirt gave 
way to the slouch-hat and gray shirt. Razors were out 
of use : no time to shave. Goods selling at any prices: 
sometimes at rates making a fortune for the owner, 
again at prices which brought him to the verge of ruin. 

The sand-hills and mud-flats now presented the ap- 
pearance of a battle-field : people of every nation, cos- 
tume, tongue, and clime, in the busy and excited crowd, 
hauling, running, trading, buying, selling, building, 
drinking, fretting, cursing, laughing, dancing, weeping, 
and doing a little of every thing under the sun but 
praying ; all seemed to flounder about in supreme reck- 
lessness. The tailor, shoemaker, and clerk awkwardly 
pulled at the heavy oar to move the lumbering, freighted 
scow deserted by the sailors, now on their way to the 
mines ; the judge sweating and chafing, as with judicial 
invectives he levied his quo warranto upon a refractory 
mule belly-deep in mire, in the legitimate exercise of 
his hereditary prerogative of backing out of a bad job ; 
the doctor refusing to see the results of his emetics, and 
pills cheap at five dollars each. Shovels, boots, blankets, 
prospecting-pans, butcher-knives, bacon, gray shirts, 
whiskey, and tobacco were in great demand. Gold 
sixteen dollars per ounce, weighed on the coffee-scales, 
or " hefted " in the hand. 



128 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The first six months of 1849 added more than fifteen 
thousand to the population of the country, over ten thou- 
sand of whom landed in San Francisco : less than two 
hundred of all this number were women. More ships, 
more people, more excitement. Splendid ships were 
left to the mercy of the winds, deserted by all hands. A 
ship's boat was worth more than a ship, for in the former 
the crew could make a voyage up the Sacramento river, 
and thence on foot to the mines. These frail craft, 
filled with gold-seekers and deeply laden frequently 
with provisions and tools besides, were headed across 
the dangerous inland sea of the Bay of San Francisco, 
and up the Sacramento river, each person armed with 
some implement of propulsion : the oarsman with oars, 
passengers with shovels, tin-pans, paddles, pieces of 
boards, and even the hands and feet served their pur- 
pose in endeavoring to propel the crazy little concern, 
often making but little progress, or brought to a stand- 
still by the excited crew and passengers pulling in op- 
posite directions — one rowing up stream, another on 
the other side, or his next companion, laboring in his 
excitement to drive her down stream. The scenes on 
the river were often very amusing and ludicrous. 

Even as early as 1 849, it was not all gold that glit- 
tered ; and many a poor fellow, disheartened, ragged, 
and forlorn, sought the back track, at least as far as 
San Francisco, where he could earn regular wages at 
some honest employment, or enter upon the exciting 
scenes of the gambling-house, now publicly indulged in 
by all classes. 

The up-river parties, on meeting a boat coming down 
stream, would of course suppose that her crew were 
returning with a load of gold, and would hurriedly in- 



EARLY GOLD EXCITEMENT. I 29 

quire the " news from the mines," receiving an answer 
that all was right up there — that all they had to do was 
to go up and fill their bags, generally directing them to 
some place perhaps never heard of before, or noted for 
its poverty. In evidence of their own success, they 
would call the attention of the new-comers to several 
canvas sacks in the bottom of their boat: these gener- 
ally were filled with a heavy black sand intended for 
the eyes of the up-river crews, and only served as bal- 
last, being worthless. On beholding these bags, the 
eyes of the up-river crews were frequently seen to start 
in their sockets ; unintelligible sounds were heard to 
proceed from their throats as they plunged their oars, 
shovels, pans, dippers, and legs into the water, while 
heading toward Sacramento. These bags thus afforded 
some compensation to the disappointed returning crews. 

Mining was not confined to the Yuba, American, and 
Feather rivers, but spread over the entire field of the 
ravines, gulches, and streams of the foot-hills, and up ta 
the Sierras ; many of the locations yielding immense 
fortunes of pure gold with but little effort or mechanical 
appliances. More than forty million dollars were ob- 
tained in the year 1849; ^^<^' from January 19, 1848, 
the day of the discovery of gold in California, to the 
beginning of 1870, the gold product of the State has 
been one billion dollars. (For table and product, see 
Appendix.) 

The overland emigration was constantly pouring into 
the valleys and ravines of the upper country, and here 
scenes of the wildest excitement prevailed ; sometimes 
caused by the discovery of rich " pockets " in the river 
beds, or nuggets in the gulches, but oftener by the 
fabulous reports of waggish or half-crazy "prospect- 



130 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

ers," who, without the least foundation in fact, reported 
the discovery of " mountains of gold," or lakes whose 
sands were sparkling yellow; the location of these 
"discoveries" generally being sufficiently distant from 
those receiving the secret to lend a charm to the tale, 
and to wear out their patience and exhaust both their 
body and purse before they returned to their starting 
point ; conscious of their fulfilment of that passage of 
Scripture which says that "the last condition of that 
man is worse than the first." 

Throughout the gulches and ravines, cotton-tent vil- 
lages sprang up as if in a single night; soon to present 
scenes of excitement, activity, and industry. Honesty 
was a virtue with the "forty-niners:" merchandise, 
tools, provisions, clothing, and gold-dust were secure 
in and about the tent-doors both day and night ; and 
not until the floods of adventurers by sea and land 
poured in did petty thieving commence. There was no 
time for courts, juries, and lawyers to be occupied in 
discovering and punishing offenders: so on discovering 
a thief he was summoned before a few miners, and, if 
found guilty, was, without delay, placed upon a mule's 
back, a rope put about his neck, tied to the limb of 
some sturdy oak, and ordered to stand up ; the mule 
received a lash of a whip, and the culprit was left sus- 
pended : thus ended the career of many an early gold- 
seeker. 

Prices in the gold-fields ran beyond all conception. 
Luxuries were out of the question: if any were offered, 
they were bought up at once by those who first saw 
them, without questions. Vegetables and fruits were 
scarce: no person had time to attend to the cultivation 
of the soil : a few apples from Oregon, or from the few 



EARL V SCENES IN THE MINES. I 3 1 

orchards about the missions, were considered cheap at 
from one to five dollars apiece. So with produce : 
eggs were rare indeed, and considered cheap from one 
to five dollars apiece, regardless of age or quality. Of 
fresh butter there was not a pound : there were plenty 
of cattle in the valleys — wild Spanish stock, fast as 
race-horses and fierce as tigers : who would undertake 
the subjugation of such animals, milk them, and go 
through the tedious process of butter-making? Hatch- 
ing chickens with the hope of eggs at some future date, 
and planting trees that apples might grow, would 
have been considered proof positive insanity, had such 
things been done. All were sojourners, "going home 
in the spring " or fall, as the case might be, with a for- 
tune (?) Men with little tents and booths fitted up 
for the sale of goods suitable for the miners were coin- 
ing money. 

Thousands of Indians, sometimes under the leader- 
ship of whites, or on their own account, worked, often 
making large amounts, but generally spending at night 
their day's earnings : whiskey was the first considera- 
tion with the aborigine, after which he might indulge 
in the luxury of a gray shirt, which would constitute his 
whole costume. The squaws, besides packing all the 
food and doing all the drudgery for their lords, would 
gather a little gold, which they would invest in a slouch- 
hat and gray shirt, and their toilets and wardrobes 
were complete. These simple children of the forest 
had not yet learned the value of gold, nor the use or 
meaning of the scales ; so they gave whatever they 
had, were it much or little, for any article which they 
might fancy. One Yankee, in this way, realized fifty 
thousand dollars in a few days from two rolls of three- 



132 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

ply carpeting: this he cut up in pieces of two yards 
each, cut in the centre lengthwise, large enough to 
admit of the head ; this was bound with braid, and a 
bunch of ribbon of some fancy color ornamented each 
end of the cut ; this formed a gaudy garb for both male 
and female natives, and thus caparisoned, and leaping 
with joy, they entered upon their new career of fashion. 

The mines continued steadily to yield their golden 
wealth. Twenty-five dollars a day might be the average 
of the miners, still thousands were making hundreds per 
day ; and thousands, after paying exorbitant prices for 
every thing, and being " in bad luck," found themselves, 
after a year's hard labor and deprivation, without a 
dollar : clothes, health, hopes, all gone ; far from home, 
dispirited, disappointed, in receipt of letters from wife 
or fond ones at home making urgent appeals for help, 
or anxiously imploring their return, reminding them of 
their promises when leaving home that they would only 
be absent six months or a year. 

The latter part of 1849 and the years 1850 and 1851 
found thousands of penniless, downcast miners, return- 
ing by the steamers to their Eastern homes, or plunging 
into gambling, dissipation, and vice. Meantime the 
gold product was still on the increase — forty million 
dollars being extracted in 1849, ^fty million dollars in 
1850, and fifty-five million dollars in 1851. Many per- 
sons, having realized large fortunes, either returned 
home or entered into business in the growing towns 
in California. 






A^^^'' 



,i *i "'/'/ 1 ' 



■ '//'.'/I ^ !\\% 




FIRST PROTESTANT CHURCH IN SAN FRANCISCO — I £49. 
(First Prcsbytcrinn Church.) 




RUSH TO THE GOLD MIKES FROM SAN FRANCISCO IN ij 



EARLY GOLD EXCITEMENT. 1 33 



CHAPTER XI. 

Growing importance of San Francisco — Crime and dissipation — 
First Vigilance Committee — Law and order — Building a city — 
Destroyed by fire — Rebuilt — Wild speculation — Strange occupa- 
tions — Fortune and misfortune — First house built at Sacramento 
— Population of — Prosperity in business and speculation — Price 
of land in San Francisco — Rents in San Francisco — Prices of 
merchandise — Amusements — Board — Labor — Cost of building — 
Streets paved with merchandise — Gold-hunters still arriving — 
Largest product of gold — Suicide and death — Only a mining 
country — Import of breadstuffs — Interior steam navigation — First 
river steamer — Fares on the rivers. 

The rush to the mines from San Francisco, during 
the years 1849, 1S50, and 1851, was unabated still. 
Streams of immigrants and gold-seekers entered the 
Golden Gate, though large numbers were returning 
home. San Francisco continued to be the grand em- 
porium of commerce. Its harbor was the only port of 
entry and egress on the entire coast. Here the new- 
comer learned his first California experience, and here 
the disappointed miner, the gambler, cutthroat, and 
courtesan plied their arts. The " Sydney Ducks " and 
" Hounds " — classes of desperadoes — were ever on the 
alert for booty. They were a great auxiliary to the 
reckless land-grabber, who, regardless of law or equity, 
possessed himself of all property from which he could 
drive the occupant. These fellows were good as stand- 
ing witnesses in any case, provided they " could see the 
color " — that is, were well paid ; good on juries either 
to acquit their friends or convict their enemies ; loud 
of mouth, bold in swagger ; could drink more whiskey, 
chew more tobacco, smoke more cigars, and use more 



134 "^HE GOLDEN STATE. 

slang phrases and profane language than anybody else; 
late at the bar-rooms and gambling-houses at night, 
and late in bed in the morning ; early and often at the 
polls on election day ; armed always with pistol, bowie- 
knife, and sword-cane. If some land-robber wanted a 
few men, all he had to do was to go to the head-quarters 
of these gangs, and state that he wanted help : fifty or 
a hundred dollars apiece would bring a gang, who, with 
ropes, would drag down the shanty of some unoffending 
man, who, with fifty pistols at his head, had to surrender 
his property. These bands often became so bold and 
defiant that their robberies were celebrated with pro- 
cessions, banners, and bands of music. These villains 
were, in the summer of 1849, disbanded by the inter- 
position of the citizens, who formed a vigilance com- 
mittee, tried, convicted, and sentenced a number of 
them. 

Later in the same year and in 1850, courts were 
established, and soon wholesome legislation and police 
regulations began to exert their influence upon a popu- 
lation which, at best, owing to natural causes, was wild, 
rash, riotous, and disorderly. 

The years 1850 and 1851 exhibited great activity and 
progress in San Francisco ; and although the greater 
part of the city had been burned for the fourth time, 
still, Phoenix-like, it rose from the ashes. Wild specu- 
lation in city lots, merchandise, and lumber had now to 
a great extent taken the place of the first excitement 
about the mines. Mud-flats were being filled in, sand- 
hills levelled, houses built, banks, hotels, restaurants, 
and stores erected ; employment of all kinds in demand, 
and thousands ready to do any thing, after their first 
experience of salt bacon and beans in the gulches and 



EARLY MINING SCENES. I 35 

mountain ravines, which refused them fortunes. Every 
distinction in costume, country, trade, and profession 
was levelled : the gouty judge and nimble tailor were 
catering to the hungry crowd in the restaurant; the 
blacksmith sawing lumber ; a dentist shoeing a kicking 
mustang or slaughtering a bullock ; a butcher keeping 
a millinery store ; a barber cleaning tripe and making 
sausages ; a shoemaker shaving at a dollar a head ; a 
painter digging a gutter ; a horse-doctor building a 
boat ; a lawyer sawing firewood ; a sailor milking a cow ; 
a bookkeeper blacking boots ; a jewellerpicking chickens 
or digging clams ; a merchant in the kitchen as cook ; 
a farmer keeping an assortment store ; an ox-driver 
painting a sign ; while a sickly-looking clerk shovelled 
down a sand-hill. All were tradesmen, all were pro- 
fessional men. Trades or occupations would change 
with the last job or highest pay. Men who could not 
succeed left the country in disgust, never to return 
again ; while their next neighbors, with a fortune, 
returned to take their families to the land of gold — 
" God's best country," as the fortunate ones would call 
it ; and so it was to many, who, landing upon its shores 
penniless, were soon able to pay off their debts at home, 
and place themselves and families in affluence. How 
different with those who, forming the larger class, either 
returned home with barely enough to pay their passage, 
or who, failing in health, hopes, and fortune, have found 
unknown graves, or still chase the fickle phantom which 
allured them to a strange land. 

The State of California kept continually increasing in 
population and wealth. Cities and villages sprang up 
in all directions. Sacramento, a barren waste in 1848, 
and in which the first frame house was erected in 



136 THE GOLDEN STATE, 

January, 1849, ^^^' ^" ^^ spring of 1850, a population 
of twelve thousand. Other places of importance, both in 
the mining and agricultural regions, were springing up. 
Great life and bustle abounded everywhere ; the gold 
product was still on the increase ; labor was well re- 
warded. Fortunes were made in San Francisco, Sacra- 
mento, and in many of the mountain towns, in a few 
business operations, or by the constant profits of a small 
store. Land and rents in San Francisco had run beyond 
all precedent: fifty and one hundred vara lots in San 
Francisco were, as late as 1850, granted by the alcaldes, 
under the Mexican laws, to persons, on payment of 
sixteen dollars ; many of these lots, in one or two years, 
were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars ; and many 
of the best city blocks now in the city cost their present 
owners but the above price. Fifty thousand dollars for 
a lot, which, a few days previous, sold at two or three 
thousand, was not uncommon. A rude shell of a frame 
store or cotton tent rented for fabulous prices : for 
instance, a canvas tent near the plaza — the " El Do- 
rado " — fifteen by twenty-five feet, rented for forty 
thousand dollars per annum ; the " Parker House," a 
common two-story frame building on Kearney street, 
also near the plaza, brought a yearly rent of one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand dollars ; a small, rough wood 
building at the plaza, rented by Wright & Co., brokers, 
at seventy-five thousand dollars per annum ; a small, 
one-story rough building, twenty feet front, occupied as 
a store, rented at forty thousand dollars a year ; and 
for poor accommodations for the custom house business 
a rent of seven thousand dollars per month was paid. 

Some leading articles of commerce were very dear: 
flour and salt pork, forty dollars per barrel; coarse 



EARLY MINING EXPERIENCE. 1 37 

boots, from thirty to one hundred dollars a pair ; wages 
for common labor, one dollar per hour; and mechanics, 
twelve to twenty dollars a day. Amusements were 
luxuries ; in the circus sixty dollars for a private box, 
and three dollars in the pit. Board in a hotel, or tent, 
about eight dollars a day, and from twenty-five to forty 
dollars per week. Lumber from three hundred to five 
hundred dollars per thousand. To build a brick house, 
it was estimated that it would, when finished, and that 
too in a rough manner, cost a dollar for each brick in 
the buildinof. 

Soon vast overstocks of many descriptions of goods 
glutted the market ; so much so that, rather than pay 
the exorbitant rents and storage necessary, the mud- 
holes and gulches were filled up with boxes of choice 
tobacco, and Clay street, for a great distance, was 
paved with shovels, the handles making a kind of cordu- 
roy, and rather rough surface. 

Immigrahts and gold-seekers were still coming. In 
1850, the State had a population of 117,538; twenty- 
seven thousand people arrived in San Francisco by sea 
and by the Isthmus. The year 1852 showed a popu- 
lation of 264,435. During the year 1853, thirty-four 
thousand gold-seekers had returned home by sea, and 
fifteen thousand by land. The yield of gold in this year 
was the largest ever produced in the State — sixty-five 
million dollars. The product has kept steadily decreas- 
ing ever since at about an average of two million dol- 
lars per annum, until the present time, <'i872,) when 
it is about twenty-five million dollars. 

During the first years of the mines, much distress 
and disappointment prevailed, owing to diseases engen- 
dered by long voyages, hardship, and exposure in the 



138 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

mines, disappointment in business or at the faro-table. 
Deaths from sheer neglect, want of medical aid, drunk- 
enness, or suicide — the latter always a favorite mode 
in California of relieving one's self of life's burdens — 
were frequent. 

Throughout the first three or four years of the min- 
ing excitement, every article of trade had to be im- 
ported. Most people believed that California was only 
a mining country — that nothing would grow upon the 
barren soil without constant irrigation ; so that the im- 
ports, in 1853, of San Francisco were over forty-five 
million dollars, over five million dollars of which was 
for flour and meal, four million dollars for butter, and 
over four million dollars for lumber. In this year, 
over fifty-seven million dollars in gold was exported. 
The tonnage arrivals and departures were considerably 
larger in this year than that of the port of Boston, 

As early as 1853, San Francisco was the third city 
in tonnage entrances in the United States — -New York 
and New Orleans alone being ahead of it. Since that 
period, however, the tonnage entries have fallen off 
considerably ; still, San Francisco is fourth in this line 
yet — only three. New York, Boston, and New Orleans, 
being ahead. 

The navigation of the Sacramento and other rivers 
and the Bay of San Francisco, in the year 1848 and 
the early part of 1849, was carried on exclusively in 
small sailing crafts, (which were very scarce,) and in 
ships' boats, which made tedious voyages. After the 
gold discovery, and before steamers were in California, 
these small vessels found active employment in carry- 
ing passengers at twenty-five to forty dollars each to 
Sacramento : ten days, and two weeks, would be occu- 



EARLY RIVER NAVIGATION. I 39 

pied by these crafts In making the trip. In October, 
1849, communication by steam to Sacramento was 
established: the first boat being the '' Pioneer I' a small 
iron steamer shipped out from Boston in pieces ; next 
came the steamer Mint, followed by the Ale Kim. All 
these entered upon the passenger trade to Sacramento 
in October, 1849, performing the trip in half a day. 
Fares were yet high: cabin, thirty dollars; deck, twenty 
dollars ; a berth, five dollars extra ; and meals, two 
dollars. The steamer Se^iator was soon after put on 
the Sacramento route ; and fi"om that period to the 
present, steam navigation of all the inland waters of the 
country has been conducted with great spirit and with 
splendid steamers. 

Let it be remembered that the first steamer ever 
upon the Bay or waters of San Francisco and Cali- 
fornia was the small boat, about the size of a ship's 
boat, taken from Sitka in 1847, ^^Y Captain W. A. 
Leidesdorff, and run on the bay until February, 1848, 
when she was lost in a northwest gale in the Bay of 
San Francisco. 



140 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Early agriculture — No vegetables — Gardening in the mines — Advent 
of farmers — Ignorance of seasons and crops — Increase of agricul- 
ture — Lumber — Fishing — Manufacturing — Coal — Fruits — Vege- 
tables — Permanent settlement in California — Varied industry — 
Happy homes — Legitimate occupations — Gold-hunters' graves — 
Overland emigration — Suffering of the "Donner party" — Settlers 
to the rescue. 

The settlers in California before the discovery of gold, 
as well as those immediately succeeding that period, 
had the most vague and incorrect idea of the agricul- 
tural capability of the country. Some small vineyards 
and wheat-fields were cultivated by the Mexicans about 
the missions. The new-comers soon formed the opinion 
that California was only a mineral region, a desert of 
sand-hills, rugged, volcanic mountains, and alkaline 
flats. Such were the reports written " home " by the 
gold-seekers, and such the prevailing opinion among 
the masses of the people everywhere. Of course, in 
the first years of the gold-fever, no one had the time 
nor disposition to cultivate the soil ; so that every 
mouthful consumed came by ship to San Francisco. 
The luxury of fresh fish, butter, eggs, and vegetables 
was not to be thought of There was no time to grow 
vegetables : if they could be produced by steam, or dug 
out of the hills, the people might stop to cook them. 
After a while, some miner who had a fixed habitation 
would plant a few seeds and cultivate a litde spot, with 
a few cabbages, onions, lettuce, and potatoes, only to 
be surprised that, without manure and without care, 
they would grow most luxuriantly, and sell at fabulous 



EARLY A GRICUL TURE. 1 4 1 

prices. Soon, every mining camp and gulch was pro- 
ducing a supply of vegetables. Those who could not 
endure hard labor, or whose " luck " refused them gold, 
sought the rich spots about the streams and ravines, 
and practical gardening was soon in full operation, 
often paying much better than mining. Others seeing 
the price of chickens and eggs, and being fully disgusted 
with their fate in the mines, turned their attention to 
raising fowls ; this also often paying large revenue. 
Others, again, having a few cows, would make butter, 
and sell milk at prices paying well their time and labor. 
Farmers were arriving with their families and teams 
across the country ; and, after a few months disappoint- 
ment in the mines, would seek the valleys and cultivate 
the soil — first in the small valleys about the mines, and 
after a while they extended into the lower and fertile 
regions of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa 
Clara valleys. 

Imperfect knowledge of the seasons, and an idea 
that through the dry summers every thing, even wheat, 
must be irrigated, often led to great loss and delay, and 
in many instances to total failure of crops. Many of 
these branches of industry were not only carried on 
under circumstances of great ignorance as to seasons 
and soil, but ignorance and inexperience in most of 
those engaged as to the practical workings of their 
calling ; as, an ex-judge or briefless lawyer setting hens 
or feeding chickens and selling eggs ; a frisky young 
doctor or merchant's clerk picking lettuce or selling 
squash ; a tailor trying to milk a kicking cow ; a sailor 
roasting his goose ; an apothecary trying to plough ; 
while a shoemaker waxed warm in the exercise of all 



142 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

his power to make both ends meet by sowing wheat to 
the last end of the land. 

Agricultural implements were scarce and rude; and, 
as for houses, the canvas tent was the only structure 
on the premises. Harness and implements all lay 
upon the ground in all seasons of the year, and an 
untidy, shiftless, agricultural population soon sprang 
up in most sections of the country. The miners and 
the entire population of the towns and villages were all 
uniformed with the gray shirt and slouch hat; all looked 
alike in that respect : all were " honest farmers, going 
home in the fall," or "honest miners, going home in 
the spring." 

From the year 1853, the agricultural and other in- 
dustrial pursuits of the State progressed with great 
energy, and often with most encouraging results : a 
good season often making a fortune from a patch of 
potatoes, beans, or onions, or from a field of wheat. 
Men began to rush to the mountains and canons in 
search of lumber, erecting steam and water power mills, 
and supplying much material for buildings, bridges, 
wharves, and replacing with sawed lumber the raw-hide 
fences of 1849 '^'^^ 1850. Fleets of boats and squads 
of men were engaged in supplying the markets with 
fish from the rivers and bay. Granite, slate, and marble 
quarries were opening; coal from Monte Diablo was in 
the market ; asphaltum from the lower coast made 
excellent sidewalks and roofing ; fruit trees of two and 
three years growth were yielding luscious fruits; straw- 
berries, cherries, and currants began to be abundant; 
immense fields of thousands of acres waved in golden- 
colored wheat ; and, from an importer of breadstufifs, 



EARLY AGRICULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 1 43 

California has become the greatest exporter of wheat 
and flour of any State in the Union. 

People were beginning to see that California had 
other resources than her mines, and to think that they 
might make their homes in her beautiful, rich valleys 
where eternal summer reigns. So soon as the people 
began to be impressed with the idea of a permanent 
residence for themselves and families, and abandoned 
the idea of roving over the country in search of a fortune 
with which to "return home," California entered upon a 
new era of prosperity. At this period men settled down 
to their work in earnest; and while many made fortunes, 
experience had taught the masses that to make a good 
living, support their families, and lay up a little yearly, 
w^as all that could be expected. With these ideas, men 
sent for their families and began to build up their new 
homes. Most of those from the cold regions of the 
Atlantic States, Canada, and Europe, seeing the bene- 
fits and pleasures of so genial a climate as California, 
determined to live and die in the land of gold. Through- 
out the entire coast new fields of labor were opened, 
and new and permanent homes erected. The vast val- 
leys were fenced, tilled, and harvested ; quiet homes 
nestled in the small, rich valleys and gulches, secluded 
in the foot-hills and canons ; substantial dwellings in 
the cities, with neat cottages in the country, began to 
show that California, as well as other lands, had homes. 

Speculation in mining and commerce must now share 
its laurels with the arts and labor now asserting their 
dominion, and calling to their support men of ability, 
ambition, and industry. With the constantly increasing 
population, and the progress in mining, commerce, and 
agriculture, there sprang up a demand for machinery, 



144 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

raw and manufactured articles of daily consumption ; 
and soon an army of operators, laborers, mechanics, 
and artisans plunged into the field. The pursuits to 
be followed were not always selected with regard to 
the experience or fitness of the person engaged, but 
generally with an eye to how much money there was in- 
it. This often led to amusincr scenes and conflicts of 
occupations and strange results ; as often occasioned 
by the singular customs, styles, and manner of doing 
business by the people of the various nationalities rep- 
resented, or by general ignorance. Pay was good, and 
in most cases better for a mechanic than for a miner ; 
and soon the gold-hunters were in swarms transformed 
into agriculturalists, mechanics, and artisans ; they set- 
tled quietly down as farmers, lumbermen, teamsters, 
fishermen, carpenters, blacksmiths, tanners, tailors, ma- 
sons, coachmakers, painters, surveyors, photographers, 
physicians, judges, lawyers, preachers, teachers, hotel 
and bar-room keepers, politicians, and grave-diggers ; 
the latter class having, from July, 1850, to July, 1853 — 
three years — buried in San Francisco alone 4,055 gold- 
hunters. Poor fellows ! how many of them, struck 
down either by disease contracted on the tedious voy- 
age round Cape Horn, on the miasmatic Isthmus of 
Panama, in the mines, or by dissipation, and far from 
the kind hand and orentle care of fond ones to aid and 
cheer them, have left their epitaph written only in the 
aching hearts of those who still, in doubt and fear, sigh 
for them, while their unmarked graves occupy their 
uncertain tenure in the shifting sands of Verba Buena! 
In the whole history of California and the trials of its 
early pioneers there is no chapter so sad in its details 
as that of the unfortunate immigrant company known 



OVERLAND IMMIGRATION. 



145 



as the "Donner Party." Of the immigration of 1846, 
a party of about eighty took a new route, by the south 
end of Salt lake. The advance party of the immigrants 
of that season reached the Sacramento valley before 
the falling of the snows in the mountains ; but the 
Dormer party, consisting of eighty persons — forty- 
three men, thirty women, and seven children — owing to 
delays, found themselves, on the 31st of October, at 
the Truckee pass, in the heart of the Sierras ; and, 
owing to an unusually early and severe winter, in the 
midst of mountains of snow, through which a passage 
was utterly impossible. Their cattle had been buried 
in the snow, and fell among the ravines, so that no trace 
of them could be found. Soon out of provisions, starva- 
tion stared them in the face : all hope gone, and the 
last morsel of tough ox-hide having been devoured, 
the aspect grew fearful. A party of fifteen persons — 
five women, eight men, and two Indians — left Donner's 
camp about six weeks after their halt, and headed west, 
in hopes of reaching the settlements west of the Sierras. 
After toiling through the snows, often twelve feet deep, 
they found themselves at the end of the first week out 
of provisions, fainting and falling one by one. Three 
remaining ones pushed forward, after partaking of the 
flesh of their fallen comrades, drying the remainder and 
packing it on their backs for food, upon their horrid 
journey. Still toihng on, they were soon again out of 
food ; the last raw-hide string from their snow-shoes 
was eaten. At this stage, the two Indians, fearing that 
they might be murdered for food, stealthily left. The 
seventeenth day out, the last of the party, except one, 
had expired. The unfortunate survivor, more dead 
than alive, aided by two friendly Indians, reached the 



146 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

settlers on Bear river. Aid was immediately forwarded 
to the remaininof survivors in the snows of the Sierras 
by the people of the valleys, who, from San Francisco 
to the foot-hills, were all saddened at the terrible news 
of the sufferers. The relief parties found it most haz- 
ardous to penetrate the Sierras. On reaching the 
camp of the unfortunates, scenes of horror presented 
themselves: the wild aspect of the surviving skeletons, 
as they stared in blank and idiotic gaze with their hol- 
low eyes from their pillows of snow, surrounded by the 
grim skeletons of their dear friends, was heart-rending. 
Of the eighty persons doomed to this awful mountain 
imprisonment, but forty-four survived — twenty-two of 
whom were females. 

Donner's camp, the farthest away of the immigrants, 
was not reached by the relief party until late in April', 
1847. -^t this camp all were dead but one: he, sur- 
rounded by the skeletons of his fallen comrades, and 
his kettle in which was boiling his meal of human flesh, 
refused food. He had been converted into a cannibal, 
repulsive and savage ; and only by force was he com- 
pelled to quit the horrid scenes of his six months 
imprisonment. 




CAi.rpoij:viA., 

OHEGOlSr, JTEVADABc. 



Natioiia] Railiyay!Riti1icaliqn|C'crinpaii\ Hi i 



EARLIEST MENTION OF CALIFORNIA. 1 47 



CHAPTER XIII. 

California — Origin of the name — Griffins in the land — Hot ovens 
of the natives — Area of the State — Agricultural, mineral, grazing, 
and marsh lands — Area equal to one hundred and forty-five States 
the size of Rhode Island — Compared with states and countries of 
Europe — Equal to thirty-eight governments of Europe — Capable 
of supporting a population of eighty-three million — Great produc- 
tiveness of the soil — Genial climate — Great natural resources — ■ 
Commercial importance — Mountains — Valleys — Rivers — Climate 
— Seasons — Harvests — Forests — Mineral range — Beauties and 
wonders of the Sierras. 

California : the origin of the name of this State has 
been a fruitful subject of disputation by writers both of 
the past and present centuries, all of whom fail to give 
2Siy positive date or identity of person or circumstances 
to support the various theories regarding it ; and as 
the most searching investigation on the part of the 
author of this volume has failed to clearly define the 
origin of the name, or to throw any new light upon the 
subject, some of the opinions generally entertained 
respecting this subject are here given. 

The name is first found in a small volume of romance 
published in Spain, in 1510, entitled ''The Sergas of 
Esplandian, the son 0/ Amadis, of Gaul!' The follow- 
ing extracts from this once popular volume will show 
how the name occurs : 

"Know that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island 
called California, very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, which was 
peopled by black women, without any men among them, because 
they were accustomed to live after the manner of the Amazons. 
They were of strong and hardened bodies, of ardent courage, and 
of great force. The island was the strongest in the world, from its 
steep rocks and great cliffs. Their arms were all of gold, and so 
were the caparisons of the wild beasts they rode." 



148 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

"In the island called California are many griffins, on account of 
the great savageness of the country and the immense quantity of 
wild game to be found there." 

An opinion prevails among- some well-informed 
authors that the name is derived from the Latin words 
calidus fornus, meaning hot oven; and that the idea 
was taken from the hot furnaces, or sweat-ovens, into 
which the natives put their sick, or from the hot valleys 
of the country : indeed, certain canons and small valleys 
in California are almost hot enough in summer time to 
suggest such an idea; but as the State received its 
name before civilized man had beheld the land, Cortez 
had invaded Mexico, Balboa discovered the Pacific 
ocean, and Magellan first navigated its waters, it is sup- 
posed that the name California was the coinage of the 
brain of the novelist mentioned. The fabulous stories 
circulated by the early Spanish navigators respecting 
the riches of the newly discovered country, and the 
great natural productiveness of the soil, and its min- 
erals, may have suggested the name, from the Greek 
words Kala-chora-?iea, meaning a rich or fresh produc- 
tiveness, fertility; opposite to Aphoria — sterility or 
unproductiveness. In this view, the application of the 
name is most suggestive and appropriate. 

Centuries before the discovery of the American 
condnent, and while the early navigators of Europe 
made their tedious voyages to the Indian ocean and 
the Red sea, the stories of the discoveries of distant 
lands and strange people were -the staple of the ro- 
mandc and fabulous tales related about the " Terres- 
trial Paradise" and the " Land of Gold," its marvellous 
wonders and strange people. The fictions of the 
ancients and heathen mythology were freely employed 



EARLIEST MENTION OF CALIFORNIA. 1 49 

to lend charms and wonder to the distant and strange 
land ; and, to fulfil the idea of the ancients as to the 
keeper of the precious metals, the Spanish novelist 
already quoted assured L*s readers that the imaginary- 
animal, the griffin — half lion and half eagle — which 
was supposed to watch over mines of gold and hidden 
treasure, had its abode in California. 

That the reader may realize the absurdities of these 
early times, and the notions of the people respecting 
this then unexplored land, a few additional extracts are 
here given from some of the early explorers of the 
South Pacific, who had worked up their imaginations 
respecting the fabled land of gold. One writer, de- 
scribing the dangers of the seas, says : 

"The crew and passengers consume their provisions, and then 
die miserably. Many vessels have been lost in this way ; but the 
people have learned to save themselves from this fate by the follow- 
ing contrivance : they take bullocks' hides along with them, and 
whenever this storm rises they sew themselves up in the hides, 
taking care to have a knife in their hand ; and, being secure against 
the sea-water, they throw themselves into the ocean. Here they are 
soon perceived by a large eagle called a griffin, which takes them 
for cattle, darts down and seizes them in his gripe, and carries them 
upon dry land, where he deposits his burthen upon a hill or in a 
dale, there to consume his prey. The man, however, now makes 
use of his knife to kill the bird, and creeps forth from the hide. 
Many people have been saved by this stratagem." 

Another traveller. Sir John Maundeville, speaking of 
the strange lands he had visited, and doubtless Califor- 
nia was one of the islands alluded to, (California was 
considered an island by its first discoverers,) says : 

"In one of these isles are people of great stature, like giants, 
hideous to look upon, and they have but one eye, which is in the 
middle of the forehead ; and they eat nothing but raw flesh and 
fish. And in another isle, toward the south, dwell people of foul 



150 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Stature and cursed nature, who have no head, but their eyes are in 
their shoulders. In another isle are people that have the lip above 
the mouth so great that, when they sleep in the sun, they cover all 
the face with that lip. And in another isle there are dwarfs which 
have no mouth, but instead of their mouth they have a little round 
hole, and when they shall eat or drink they take it through a pipe 
or a pen or such a thing, and suck it in. And in another isle there 
are people that have ears so long that they hang down to their 
knees, [a tribe of Oregon Indians split the ear, allowing the outside 
which was cut from the top to hang down, thus making the ears to 
hang down to the shoulders.] In another isle there are people that 
have horses' feet. In another isle there are people that go upon 
their hands and feet like beasts, and are all skinned and feathered, 
and would leap as lightly into trees and from tree to tree as squir- 
rels or apes. In another isle are hermaphrodites ; and in another 
isle are people that go upon their knees, and at every step they go 
it seems that they will fall : they have eight toes on every foot. 
Many other diverse people of diverse natures there are in other 
lands about, of which it were too long to tell. 

" Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there. 'Tis 
far beyond Cathay, [China,] and I repent not going there, but I 
was not worthy. But as I have heard say of wise men beyond, I 
shall tell you with good will. Terrestrial Paradise, as wise men 
say, is the highest place of the earth ; and it is so high that it nearly 
touches the circle of the moon there, as the moon makes her turn. 
.... And you shall understand that no man that is mortal may 
approach to that Paradise : for by land no man may go for wild 
beasts that are in the deserts, and for the high mountains and great 
huge rocks that no man may pass by for the dark places that are 
there ; and by the rivers may no man go, for the water runs so 
roughly and sharply, because it comes down so outrageously from 
the high places above, that it runs in great waves, that no ship may 
row or sail against it, and the water roars so, and makes so huge a 
noise, and so great a tempest, that no man may hear another in a 
ship, though he cried with all the might he could. Many great 
lords have essayed with great will, many times, to pass by these 
rivers toward Paradise, with full great companies, but they might 
not speed in their voyage ; and many died, from weariness in row- 
ing against the strong waves, and many of them became blind, and 
many deaf, for the noise of the water, and some perished and were 



AREA OF CALIFORNIA. 



151 



lost in the waves ; so that no mortal man may approach to that 
place without special grace of God : so that of that place I can tell 
you no more." 

Cortez having, in 1521, completed the conquest of 
Mexico, turned his attention to exploring the western 
side of his new acquisitions; and at this period we find 
the Gulf of California called by its present name, and 
also the " Sea of Cortez." That California was the 
land mentioned by the novelist in 15 10 cannot be 
doubted, as California was considered an island, and 
placed upon the maps and geographies as such, until 
the expedition of the Viceroy of New Spain, in 1686, 
more than a century and a-half after Cortez visited the 
country, and discovered and reported it to be a part of 
the mainland of the continent of America. 

The State of California extends from latitude 32° 45' 
to latitude 42° ; is a little over eight hundred miles in 
length, and twelve hundred miles, following the chief 
indentations of the coast. It is an average width of 
two hundred miles from the Pacific ocean to the crest 
of the Sierras, the eastern boundary; and contains an 
area of 188,981 square miles, or 120,947,840 acres. 

California is bounded on the north by the State of 
Oregon, on the east by the State of Nevada and Terri- 
tory of Arizona, on the south by the republic of Mexico, 
and on the west by the Pacific ocean. 

The combined area of the six New England States is 
but 68,348 square miles, showing that California has an 
area almost three times as great as this division of the 
republic. 

The area of the six Middle States — New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West 
Virginia — is 137,464 square miles; showing that the 



152 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

area of California is 51,517 square miles larger than 
this section. 

The combined area of the twelve States forming the 
New England and Middle States is 205,812 square 
miles, showing that California contains an area almost 
as great as these twelve States. It is 78,135 square 
miles larger than the whole of Great Britain ; the latter 
being 110,846 square miles. It would make twenty- 
four States the size of the State of Massachusetts, leav- 
ing 2,781 square miles; and the area of California 
would make one hiuidred and forty -five States as large 
as the State of Rhode Isiajid. 

The combined area of Great Britain, Holland, Greece, 
Denmark, Brunswick, and Switzerland is 188,330 square 
miles, leaving the area of California 551 square miles 
larger than these six European countries. 

The area of Andorra, Anhalt, Baden, Belgium, 
Bremen, Brunswick, Papal States, Denmark, Frank- 
fort, Greece, Hamburg, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Hesse-Homburg, Holland, with Luxem- 
burg, Lichtenstein, Lippe-Detmold, Lippe-Schaumburg, 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Nassau, 
Portugal, Reuss, San Marino, Saxony, Saxe-Altenburg, 
Saxe-Coburgand Gotha, Saxe-Meinlng-HIldburg, Saxe- 
Welmar-EIsenach, Schwarzburg, Rudolstadt, Schwarz- 
burg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Lubec, Wurtemberg, 
Switzerland, and the republic of Hayti — thirty-seven 
countries of Europe and one republic of America, 
(West Indies,) — embraces a total of 189,273 square 
miles — a fraction only more than the area of California. 

The population of the thirty-eight countries alluded 
to is, in round numbers, thirty million ; while the popula- 
tion of California, by the census of 1870, was but 560,247 



AREA OF CALIFORNIA. I53 

— a little less than three persons to each square mile. 
So genial the climate, so productive the soil, so early 
the maturity of cattle, so rich in precious metals, so 
great the water-power — in a word, so great the natural 
resources of California, when compared with the coun- 
tries already alluded to — that eighty million of people 
could be easily maintained upon her soil. But Califor- 
nia is capable of sustaining a larger population ; and, 
that the reader may comprehend what may possibly be 
the population of this vast region, and to what popula- 
tion and power California may yet attain, it is but 
necessary to present a few further illustrations from 
some of the most popular countries of Europe. The 
area of Great Britain is 110,846 square miles, and her 
population thirty-two million. This would be 286 per- 
sons to each square mile. Now let us see what this 
density would give California: at the rate of 286 to 
each mile, California would have a population of 
54,048,566. But California can even do better than 
that : she can surpass the largest density of any country 
of Europe. At the present period, (1872,) Belgium, the 
most densely populated country of Europe, has a popu- 
lation of 440 persons to each square mile of her whole 
area of 11,313 square miles. Belgium must still con- 
tinue to grow more dense in population ; but, with her 
present density in California, the State would have a 
population of 83,151,640, or more than double the 
population of every State and Territory in the Ameri- 
can republic ; the federal census giving the whole pop- 
ulation of the republic at 38,281,384 in 1870 

Of the 1 20,947,840 acres in the State of California, 
but 2)'^,ZZ^yZ7^ acres have been surveyed. There are 
7,095,714 acres covered by Mexican grants, 5,023,714 



154 T^I^ GOLDEN STATE. 

acres of which have been confirmed, and patents issued 
by the government, leaving- 2,071,825 acres of the 
claims reported for action not yet patented. Outside 
of all lands granted by the federal government and the 
lands covered by the Mexican grants there are yet 
(1872) 100,070,177 acres of public lands in the State. 

Year after year the arable lands of the State seem 
to widen : mountain ridges and high, rolling hills, 
regarded as worthless a few years since, are found by 
experience to be excellent farm-lands, producing grain, 
vegetables, and fruit of almost every description ; and, 
under a diversified cultivation and the agricultural skill 
and labor of European farmers, thousands of acres yet 
considered worthless will be made most productive. 
So far but a fraction of the land of the State has even 
been surveyed, and rich and fertile valleys are to-day 
without a furrow ever havine been turned. But three 
million acres are cultivated, and five million acres en- 
closed, (1872,) within the whole State. Twenty million 
bushels of wheat are grown annually, and to pasture the 
three and a half million sheep, two hundred and fifty 
thousand horses, and eight hundred thousand neat 
cattle in the State, occupies wide ranges of untilled 
and unfenced land. 

It is difficult to give any correct classification of the 
lands of the State. It is estimated, however, that sixty- 
five million acres are susceptible of cultivation; twenty- 
five million acres of pasture lands ; fifteen million acres 
of mountain, forest, and rugged hills ; six million acres 
of sandy, gravelly, and alkaline plains ; five million acres 
of overflowed, salt-marsh, and tide lands ; and 4,947,840 
acres in lakes, rivers, and bays. 

To know whether California is capable of sustaining 




NIGHT SCEXE ON THE SIAIX BRANCH OF THE SACRAMENTO RIVER. 




THE FORD OF TUB YO-SEMITE, 




VltVV OF MOUNT SHASTA, THIRTY MILES DISTANT. 



FUTURE GREATNESS OF CALIFORNIA. I 55 

a population of the density of any of the countries here 
mentioned it is only necessary to be informed that, in 
natural resources, the most densely populated country 
above named is vastly inferior to this State, whose 
balmy climate permits of out-door labor and cultivation 
of the soil every day of the year, and whose rich and 
inexhaustible soil produces so abundantly and luxuri- 
antly. Her fields of wheat yield from fourteen to one 
hundred bushels to the acre — forty to sixty bushels 
being considered a good yield, and twenty-one bushels 
to the acre the average of the State ; whilst in most 
of the countries of Europe and the Eastern States of 
America from eight to fourteen bushels to the acre is 
considered a good crop, while many of them average 
only from five to six bushels to the acre. 

The unparalleled productions of vegetables, fruit, 
and grain, with the ease of cultivation, the perpetual 
summer, time saved from building warm houses and 
procuring food and shelter for cattle, fuel and raiment 
for man, the freeness of the agricultural lands from 
either forests or rocks, the absence of worms and dis- 
ease in fruit and grain, the abundance of wild grass and 
wild oats, the early maturity of fruit trees and cattle, 
the great water-powers, whose crystal spray is never 
congealed by winter's frosts, the healthful and vigorous 
condition of man and beast — all assure us that Cali- 
fornia is capable of producing from her soil the means 
of sustaining a population of three times the density of 
any of the countries or States named in this chapter. 

The natural resources, great mineral and agricultural 
wealth of California, with her eight hundred miles of 
sea coast indented with numerous bays and harbors, 
facing the Pacific ocean, the direct and easy steam com- 



156 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

munication with Asia and the islands of the Pacific, the 
railroad connection with the Atlantic States, all place 
her midway in the direct line of trade between Asia 
and Europe, and render her geographically one of the 
most favorably located States in the Union. 

The country is divided into hundreds of valleys by 
ridges and chains of mountains. The principal moun- 
tains are the Sierra Nevada range, running about four 
hundred miles along the eastern boundary in the north- 
ern portion of the State, and the Coast Range, follow- 
inof the course of the ocean alongf its western line the 
entire lenofth of the State. Toward the southern sec- 
tion of the State the chain is often broken and inter- 
sected with streams, canons, and small, fertile valleys. 
At some places, as in Marin county, on the north side 
of the Golden Gate, this range of mountains pushes 
almost to the ocean ; but its general cotci^se is from 
twelve to twenty miles from the sea, leaving a belt of 
rich agricultural and grazing land between it and the 
Pacific. This section of the State is entirely different 
in climate from the interior: during the hot summer 
months, the fogs and vapor from the ocean hang in 
dense volumes over it, cooling the air, and keeping 
vegetation green through the entire dry season. The 
harvest in this section is several weeks later than in 
the valleys of the interior. Here, too, is the great 
dairy and pasture range of the State. South of Santa 
Cruz, this ridge is to a great extent barren of trees, or 
covered with an inferior growth of timber; but west of 
this'point, and particularly through the upper portions of 
the State, it is crowned with valuable forests of cedar, 
fir, redwood, and oak. The valleys upon both sides of 
this range are well watered with thousands of crystal 



MOUNTAIN CHAINS AND PEAKS. I 57 

streams, runnino- from the ridgfes of the mountains 
either toward the interior or emptying into the Pacific 
ocean. Trout are abundant in all these streams. This 
chain averages in height from two thousand to six 
thousand feet above the level of the sea, and in width 
from fifteen to thirty-five miles. 

The grand mountain chain of the Sierras, marking 
the eastern boundary of California for more than four 
hundred miles south from the Oregon line, often broken 
and irregular, in its general features of natural gran- 
deur presents varied themes of reflection and observa- 
tion, as being the main artery or back-bone from whose 
lateral, spurs and rugged sides emanate the great gold 
and silver supply, which exists not only in Galifornia 
and Nevada but which, following the general line of 
this range, supplies the vast mineral wealth from Pata- 
gonia through South and Central America, Mexico, 
California, Oregon, Washington Territory, and British 
Columbia, until it is lost in the eternal snows of Alaska's 
lonely shore on the distant confines of the Arctic ocean. 

In this grand range of mountains in California are 
found the highest elevations in the republic except those 
in Alaska — Mount Whitney being higher than Mount 
Hood, or the highest peaks of the Rocky mountains. 
Here Mount Shasta lifts its hoary head 14,440 feet; 
and Mount Whitney, the loftiest mountain of the range, 
stands fifteen thousand feet above the sea-level. Here, 
too, stand the solemn sentinels of the forest, the mighty 
trees of Mariposa, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Tulare, 
the most gigantic vegetable growth in the world, the 
wonder and admiration of all who behold them, dwarf- 
ing into comparative insignificance the cedars . of 
Lebanon and the pines and firs of the Baltic and the 



158 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Saco. Here, too, may be seen the famed valley and 
falls of the Yosemite, where, at a few bounds, the 
mighty sheet of water dashes a distance of two thou- 
sand five hundred and twenty-six feet into the valley 
below. High in the ridges of this chain, nestling betwixt 
the precipitous and frowning walls of dark and relent- 
less granite, nature elevates her mighty urns, which, 
like inland seas, inspire and impress man with the 
majesty of creation, as he floats upon their placid 
waters, or in vain attempts to sound their almost 
fathomless depths. Here the Sacramento, San Joa- 
quin, and Klamath rivers have their source. Down 
the sides, ridges, spurs, and gorges of this range, and 
its foot-hills and gulches, the men of every clime search 
for gold ; and, up from the parched and arid plains and 
heat of summer, man and beast seek cooling fountains 
of pure water and new life, in the rich verdure and 
changing scenes of the charming Sierras, whose gran- 
deur of mountains, granite domes, cascades, lakes, 
forests, and foliage surpass in natural beauty the 
forests and glaciers of the Alps and the fascinations 
of Como, Neufchatel, and Lucerne. 



MOUNTAIN CHAINS AND PEAKS. 1 59 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Mountains — Sierra Nevadas — Winter, spring, and summer in the 
Sierras — Snows of the mountains — Farming, lumbering, and 
grazing in the Sierras — Forests — Big trees — Shrubs — Plants — 
Flowers — Grasses — Poison oak. 

The description already given of the Coast Range 
and Sierra Nevada mountains will have sufficiently 
defined the two great mountain ranges of California. 

For the better information of the reader, a descrip- 
tion of the principal mountains of the State, with the 
counties in which they are located, is here given. In 
the description of the several counties, the leading feat- 
ures of interest — as the valleys, forests, mountains, 
lakes, and rivers — are more minutely described. 

In the Coast Range, the following are the principal 
peaks: Tamalpais, Marin county, 2,597 feet; Monte 
Diablo, Contra Costa county, 3,856; Moimt St. Helena^ 
Napa county, 4,343 ; Mount Ha77iilton, Santa Clara 
county, 4,443 ; Mount Finos, Santa Barbara county, 
7,300; Motmt San Bernardi^io, San Bernardino county, 
8,500; Mount Ripley, Lake county, 7,500; Mount Dow- 
ney, Los Angeles county, 5,675 ; besides many other 
mountain peaks in this range of from four thousand to 
five thousand feet. 

The chief mountains in the Sierra Nevada range, in 
California, are the volcanic copies near Mono lake, Mono 
county, 9,300 feet ; Dome mountain, Tulare county, 
9,825; Lassen Peak, Shasta county, 10,577; Silvermoun- 
tain, Alpine county, 10,934; Mount Hoffman, Alpine 
county, 10,872; Cathedral Peak, Mariposa county, 



l60 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

11,000; Mount Sillijuan, Tulare county, 11,623; Castle 
Peak, Mono county, 13,000; Ly ell Peak, Mono county, 
13,217; Jlfotmt Dana, Mono county, 13,227; Mount 
Brewer, Mono county, 13,886; Mount King, Fresno 
county, 14,000; Mount Shasta, Siskiyou county, 14,440; 
Mount Tyndell, Tulare county, 14,386; Mount Wil- 
liams, Tulare county, 14,500; and Mount Whitney, 
Tulare county, 15,000, the highest mountain in Cali- 
fornia. 

The two main chains of mountains in California — 
the Coast Ranore and the Sierras — are not of the bar- 
ren and desolate character that many might suppose. 
The Coast Range, southward of the Golden Gate, pre- 
sents many rugged, wild, frowning, rocky crags, and 
bald, granite peaks; but the general range of this chain 
is filled with rich ravines and small valleys, and even 
the rolling hills, high above the clouds and fog-banks 
of summer, are in many places jich in deep soil, covered 
with a luxuriant growth of wild oats, grass, and flowers, 
well suited to agriculture or grazing, well wooded, and 
abounding in beautiful, never-failing streams of water. 

The Sierra Nevadas, averaging from fifty to seventy 
miles in width and over four hundred and fifty miles in 
length in California, are by no means a desert of eter- 
nal snow and frowning granite : on the highest ridges, 
deep snow falls during the winter months, but the cli- 
mate in the entire ranore is not so cold as in the State 
of Virginia or portions of Kentucky during the corre- 
sponding months. The snow-fall in this range begins 
toward the end of November, and continues through the 
winter months until April, during which, upon the high 
ridges, there is a snow-fall of from ten to forty feet, 
but on the middle and lower ranges only of a few feet, 



SOIL, SEASONS, AND VEGETATION. l6l 

which disappears in April, when spring opens balmy 
and pleasant. Hundreds of thousands of acres of this 
range is deep loam soil, fit for agriculture, with rich 
meadows from which are cut large quantities of hay. 
This district affords the finest pasture-range in summer 
on the whole coast. In this range, also, down its rug- 
ged sides, are the vast forests of firs, oaks, and pines, 
which will be found more fully described under the 
head of " Forests" further on. 

Snow almost entirely disappears from the Sierras in 
summer. By the middle of July, not a trace of winter 
can be seen except in a few Isolated spots, where, high 
up in the clouds, clinging to the northern side of some 
towering peak, may be seen small patches of snow, as" 
if dodging and hiding from the powerful rays of the 
sun, which through the long summer pours down its 
scorching floods of light and heat, melting all before It 
and parching the valleys below. 

Farming, lumbering, and grazing are carried on v/Ith 
success In this range. Indeed, it Is yearly becoming the 
resort of the tourist, and thousands of the citizens of 
the towns and villages of the scorched plains of the 
lower country repair hither in the summer months, to 
bask beneath the luxuriant foliage, angle in the streams, 
float upon the placid lakes, gaze upon the towering 
columns of the smooth oranlte and slate mountain 
peaks, which, like cathedral domes, lift their imposing 
heads above the clouds ; or wander upon the verdant 
lawn, in admiration of the mysterious wonders and 
beauties of the famed Yosemlte, whose ever-changing 
.scenes of gauzy vapor, and dancing, fickle rainbows, 
present scenes more like the fabled dreams of fairy land 
than the realities of earth. 



I 62 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

FORESTS. 

The greater part of the State of California (except 
the high mountains) consists of rolling hills, rich and 
fertile valleys, swamp and overflowed lands, and is 
entirely free from rock ; and, as far as the eye can 
reach, in all directions, without tree or shrub of any 
kind, except a fringe of willow or cottonwood about the 
edges of the streams and springs, a few chimps of 
broadspread oaks in the valleys, or straggling ones 
about the ravines and canons of the hills. 

Along the Coast Range, the Sierras, and the various 
smaller mountain chains and ridges, forests of oak^ 
pine, white and red cedar, cypress, laurel, fir, and other 
species are abundant west of Santa Cruz ; south of this 
point, in the Coast Range, timber is confined chiefly to 
scattering trees or a few groups of inferior growth. 
Redwood — a species of cedar — grows in great profu- 
sion, is of common use in house-building, and forms a 
staple commercial lumber throughout the State. This 
tree grows to a great size : one in Santa Cruz county 
is two hundred and seventy-five feet in height and nine- 
teen feet in diameter. Many trees can be found among 
this class of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
and fifty feet in height, and six, eight, ten, and fourteen 
feet in diameter. The wood is of a reddish color, very 
free from knots, and splits easily ; is very durable, 
although not very strong. 

Common to the Coast Range, valleys and hills, is a 
great variety of trees and shrubs of variegated and 
beautiful appearance, differing very essentially from the 
same species in other countries ; many of them entirely 
confined to the State of California. In the large variety 
in the State are the wild nutmeg, ironwood, poplar 







(First 



" BIG TREES," MARIPOSA AND CALVERAS GROVES, CALIFORNIA. 



tree, 350 feet high and 28 feet in diameter; Second tree 386 feet high and 31 feet in 
diameter.) 



^ 



FORESTS, TREES, AND SHRUBS. 1 63 

white cedar, cypress^ Monterey pine, walnut, willow, 
dogwood, cherry, white maple, in the southern coast ; 
throughout the central and northern part of the State 
may be found the yew, chestnut, ash, alder, cottonwood, 
manzanita, madrofia, laurel, chinquapin, oak, sycamore, 
balsam-fir, spruce, cedar, sugar and other pine, walnut, 
dogwood, crab-apple, buckthorn, lilac, cherry, plum, 
grape-vine, vine-maple, and sequoia, (mammoth tree.) 

It will be observed that California is destitute of many 
of the species of valuable timber of the Atlantic States 
and Canada, such as beech, birch, sugar-maple, hemlock, 
juniper, elm, and hickory. To compensate in some 
degree for the loss of those valuable forest trees Cali- 
fornia has many species peculiar to her soil, not to be 
found in any other part of the globe ; indeed all her 
trees, flowers, and shrubs seem to be different from 
those in any other country, many of the former supply- 
ing the finest quality of cabinet and house timber. 

THE BIG TREES. 

These are found only in the Sierra range, and chiefly 
in the groups of Calaveras, Mariposa, Tuolumne, and 
Tulare counties. They stand in solitary grandeur, as 
the most gigantic specimens of vegetable life on the 
globe. These giants of the forest stand in the valleys 
nestled in this chain of mountains at an elevation of 
from four thousand to five thousand feet above the sea; 
and as no vegetable life exists in this rano-e above nine 
thousand feet altitude, their tops are much below that 
range. There are seven distinct groups of these mam- 
moth trees — three in Mariposa county, two in Tulare, 
and one each in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties. 
Th.e group in the latter county was the first discovered, 



1 



1 64 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and possesses among its numbers the tallest tree known 
in the State. 

To persons who have not visited the Pacific coast 
and seen the Immense forests of California, Oregon, 
and Washington Territory, a description of these forests 
of the Sierras sounds like romance. To the lumbermen 
of the Baltic and Penobscot, who look upon a pine of 
eighty to one hundred feet high and three to six feet in 
diameter as a moitster, a description of the " Big Tree 
Grove " of Calaveras county, some of the trees of which 
are four hundred and thirty-five feet in length and one 
hundred and ten feet in circumference at the base, or 
more than thirty-three feet in diameter, must seem 
ridiculous. One of these monsters was cut down some 
years ago, by boring with long augers, which occupied 
five men constantly for twenty-two days, equal to one 
hundred and ten days labor of one man ; the stump, 
levelled and planed off, being twenty-seven feet in 
diameter, has often been the scene of cotillion parties 
and festive gatherings — not of children, but of full- 
grown, able-bodied California men and women. An- 
other of these giants now fallen is hollow, forming a 
tunnel so large that parties have often rode into it on 
horseback for seventy feet, turned the horse around 
and rode out without dismounting. The top is broken 
off, and two horsemen can ride abreast through this 
tree for its entire length without stooping. 

These trees grow in a deep, rich soil ; the wood is 
soft, light, and dry, splitting freely, of a reddish color, 
and is valuable for building purposes ; it much resem- 
bles red cedar. 

The Calaveras grove is situated in Calaveras county, 
between the Stanislaus and Calaveras rivers, twenty 



GIANTS OF THE FOREST. 



165 



miles east of Mokelumne Hill, and 4,760 feet above the 
sea-level There are ninety-two of the "Big Tree" 
species in the group ; ten of them are over thirty feet 
in diameter, and eighty-two of a diameter from fifteen 
to thirty feet, ranging from two hundred and forty to 
three hundred and sixty-six feet in height. A list of 
twenty-five of the largest trees of the Calaveras group 
is here given, with the names : 



Names of the Trees. 



S. Starr King 

General Scott 

General Jackson 

Two Sentinels, (front 

of hotel) 

Salem Witch 

Trinity 

Mother of the Forest.. 

William C. Bryant 

Henry W. Beecher ... 

Granite State 

General Washington.. 
Abraham Lincoln 









> 




c . 






c 


.i^o 


4j 


S^ 2 




3.2^ 


X 


u 


366 


50 


327 


45 


320 


42 


315 




310 




308 


48 


305 


63 


305 


49 


291 


45 


286 


50 


284 


52 


281 


44 



Names of the Trees. 



Bay State 

Old Kentucky 

Empire State 

Andrew Johnson 

Daniel Webster 

Mother and Son 

Edward Everett 

Pride of the Forest... 

Vermont 

John Torrey, (nobis) 

Arborvitas Queen 

Beauty of the Forest. 
Henry Clay 



280 
277 
275 
273 
270 
269 
265 
260 
259 
259 
258 
258 
241 



48 
45 
50 
32 
49 
64 
46 
50 
41 
35 
31 

44 



The Mariposa group, in Mariposa county, is situated 
about thirty miles southeast of the town of Mariposa. 
It consists of four hundred and twenty-seven trees, 
varying in size from two hundred and seventy-five to 
three hundred and twenty-five feet in height, and from 
twenty to thirty-four feet in diameter. They extend 
over an area of about five hundred acres, about six 
thousand feet above the level of the sea. One of these 
giants now prostrate indicates a length of four hundred 
feet, and a diameter of about forty feet. " The Grizzly 
Giant" is the king of this group, being about thirty- 



I 66 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

four feet In diameter, and three hundred and twenty- 
five feet in height. There are three other groups in 
this county, near the Mariposa grove: one contains 
eighty-six and the other thirty-five mammoth trees, 
averaging about the diameters of those already de- 
scribed. 

Throughout Tuolumne county groups of the "Big 
Trees" are found ; and still further south, in Tulare 
county, at an elevation of about sixty-five hundred feet, 
and about forty-six miles northeast of the town of 
Visalia, scattered over a range of fifty miles in length, 
hundreds of these trees are found ; and, although the 
average height is not so great as those of Calaveras 
and Mariposa, some now prostrate are as great in girth 
as the largest In the State. The largest standing tree 
of this group is two hundred and seventy-six feet in 
height, and one hundred and six feet in circumference; 
a portion of it had been burnt away; originally its girth 
is supposed to have been about one hundred and twenty 
feet 

Not the least remarkable about these mountain mon- 
archs Is their age, ascertained by scientific observation 
to be In some cases from one thousand to three thou- 
sand years ; and still there they stand, in primeval 
majesty, defiant of sun, rain, frost, and storms, unen- 
cumbered by branches, erect, well proportioned. In 
their crowns of evergreen they look down from their 
aerial heights upon their offspring, young giants in the 
bud or a few hundred years of age, struggling for the 
master)^ over the oak and sturdy pitch and sugar pine, 
soon to be dwarfed in comparison, as the young sequoia 
lifts his arms into the clouds. 




n^y.A;, -- 



SECTION OK MAMMOTH TRKE, CALIFORNIA. 
(31 Feet in diiimeter.) 




A COTILLION PARTY OF THIRTY-TWO PERSONS DANCING ON THE STUMP OF 
THE MAMMOTH TREE. 



INDIGENOUS PRODUCTIONS. 167 

SHRUBS, PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND GRASSES. 

Of the classes of indigenous shrubs, plants, flowers, 
and grasses there is a great number and a great variety, 
many of them of much beauty, fragrance, and value. 
Alder, cottonwood, lilac, wild cherry, plum, grape, bam- 
berry, current, blueberry, (a few of this latter, only in 
the Coast Range,) strawberries, raspberries, black- 
berries, salmonberries, tar-weed, white lervisia, pitcher- 
plant, soft arnica, wild flax, and wild mustard abound 
all over the coast, valleys, and hill-sides. The wild 
mustard grows in great fields, or forests, some of the 
stalks attaining twelve and fourteen feet in height, with 
branches, to which a horse can safely be hitched, and 
upon which the birds lodge. The berry of this plant 
attains a size, quality, and perfection unequalled in the 
world ; and the gathering of it of late years has proved 
a source of profitable employment to thousands of 
people. There is enough mustard growing wild in 
California to supply the market of the whole world. 

POISON OAK. 

The poison oak of California exists pretty generally 
over the State ; but abounds in the lower valleys and 
Coast Range. Generally it is a little, straggling shrub, 
three or four feet high, with dark red, glaze-like leaves; 
in the shade of trees, it climbs like a vine, the leaves 
being broader and of a light green. Many persons are 
affected by this poisonous shrub, either by coming in 
contact with it or having its poisonous gases carried in 
the air ; it generally affects the face and exposed parts 
with swelling and itching, which is very painful and 
unpleasant. Those persons subject to this affliction are 



1 68 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

liable to repeated attacks ; and, as but litde is generally 
known about the treatment necessary, some of the most 
effective remedies are here given, all of which are simple 
and applied externally: constant applications of hot 
water to the parts affected, steam or hot baths, warm 
solutions of sugar of lead, water of ammonia, warm 
vinegar and water ; all applied as hot as can be com- 
fortably endured. On the authority of Dr. Colbert A. 
Canjield, of California, a recipe is here given, which 
beyond doubt is most effective : a decoction made by 
stewing either the dried or green leaves or by rubbing 
the bruised green leaves of the grindelia, a plant grow- 
ing in many parts of California, especially in the south. 
It is a tall perennial belongino- to the composite family, 
and looks like a small sunflower. It is from one to two 
feet high, has bright yellow flowers in heads of one or 
two inches in diameter ; the buds, and even the leaf, 
contain a sticky balsam or resinous matter ; its medici- 
nal qualities are supposed to be contained in its resinous 
or balsamy matter. It has long been known to the 
Indians and native Spanish of California, not only as a 
cure for poison oak, but in many skin diseases, as salt- 
rheum, netde-rash, and many others. A small quantity 
of this herb gathered in season, and kept in every 
family, would, if properly applied, save much anxiety 
and suffering from the effects of poison oak. 

Of the grasses and plants, many species abound, but 
in no part of the State do they form a sod : the roots 
die out by the heat of summer, except with the "bunch 
grass," which grows in many parts of the whole Pacific 
coast, springing from the roots, and forming large and 
high clumps. It affords excellent pasturage, and the 
new crop is generated from the seeds which fall into the 



GJi ASSES, HAY, AND PASTURAGE. I 69 

crevices of the earth, and start Immediately after the 
first rains in November. In February, March, April, 
May, and June, the whole country, hill-sides and valleys, 
seem to be covered with grass and clover, and for miles 
present a charming scene of shades and ridges of yellow, 
red, white, and variegated flowers. 

The wild oats, which seem to grow everywhere, is a 
staple article of pasturage, and is cut in great quantities 
for hay. Its growth is very luxuriant, in many places as 
dense and tall as the best fields of cultivated oats. In 
seventeen years residence on the Pacific coast, the author 
has never seen a spear of timothy grown in California : 
the dry seasons kill the roots. I do not believe there 
is a spear of it growing in the State, unless in some 
small valleys in the Sierras, or where it is constantly 
irrigated during the summer months. Wild oats, oats, 
and barley, cut green, form the staple " hay " of Cali- 
fornia ; and, strange to say, barley throughout the State 
is given to horses generally in preference to oats. 
Through Oregon and Washington Territory, timothy 
grows well ; some fields along the Columbia surpass- 
ing the finest growth of the Atlantic States. 



IJrO THE GOLDEN STATE, 



CHAPTER XV. 

Valleys — Trees, vegetables, fruits, flowers, grain, and grasses — 
Lakes — Alkaline and borax lakes — Dry lakes — Death valley. 

VALLEYS. 

The vast and fertile valleys of California, stretching 
over a length of country of seven hundred miles, form 
the richest and most variegated agricultural district in 
the world, produce almost every species of tropical and 
semi-tropical trees, fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers, and 
grasses, and yield most abundantly of wheat, barley, 
potatoes, fruit, and vegetables. 

Nearly all the valleys of the State run parallel with 
the coast. The three chief are the San Joaquin, Sacra- 
mento, and Santa Clara ; but the two last, in which are 
numerous others divided and subdivided within their 
general area of about five hundred miles in length by 
sixty in width, form the great agricultural field of Cali- 
fornia, completely enclosed between the Sierra Nevada 
and the Coast Range of mountains ; these, running 
almost north and south for five hundred miles, nearly 
join by curving toward each other in Siskiyou county 
at the north, near the southern line of Oregon, and 
joining at the south in Los Angeles county, at Mount 
Pinos, leaving to the south and east of the Sierras the 
vast deserts and valleys of San Bernardino and San 
Dieofo counties, stretching east and south to the west- 
ern line of Arizona, the river Colorado, and Lower 
California. A fuller description of the soil, area, &c., 
of these valleys will be found in the chapter descriptive 







'''"" "''i'i'»''i'.iM' hm^^mmMJiFM? 



LAKES IN CALIFORNIA. I7I 

of the several counties and of the agricultural resources 
of the State. 

LAKES. 
There are twenty-two principal lakes in California, 
with an area of 29,641 square miles ; besides innumera- 
ble small ones, some of very respectable size, of con- 
siderable depth, and of great natural beauty. Some, 
elevated high In the Sierras, contain crystal water, with 
abundance of fish, while others, low in the alkaline flats, 
are so acrid and bitter that no animal life can be found 
within their waters, floating on their surface, or par- 
taking of their pungent fluid. 

• Tulare Lake. — This lake is situated in Tulare county, 
its southern line being the western boundary of a por- 
tion of Kern county. It is about seventy miles directly 
east from the town of San Louis Obispo, which lies 
close to the Pacific ocean, in the county of that name, 
and one hundred and eighty miles south from San Fran- 
cisco. This is the largest lake in the State, being thirty- 
three miles in length by twenty in width. The Sierra 
Nevada mountains being directly on the east of it, send 
down innumerable streams ; many of which, such as 
Kings, Kern, and Elk, are of considerable size, and pour 
their floods into this lake, which forms the common recep- 
tacle of all the waters of a vast area of country. Strange 
as it may seem, there is no visible outlet to this great 
sheet of water. In the rainy season, the land upon the 
west and east sides, being low, is overflowed to a great 
extent, forming tule and swamp. It is supposed that 
there must be some subterranean outlet to this sheet 
of water. 

Goose Lake. — ^This is second in size of all the lakes 



1^2 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

in California, and is situated on the State lines of Oregon 
and California, about one-third in Oregon and two-thirds 
in California, in Siskiyou county, and about seventeen 
miles from the extreme northeast corner of the State. 
It is thirty-three miles in length by nine in breadth, and 
is surrounded by a richly timbered and agricultural 
country, but almost wholly uninhabited. 

Rhett Lake. — This lake is also in Siskiyou county, 
about eight miles east of Goose lake, and close to the 
Oregon State line. Its greatest length is about four- 
teen miles, and its width about eleven. 

Wright Lake — Also in Siskiyou county, is six miles 
directly east of Rhett lake, and four miles from the 
Oregon State line. It is ten miles in length by five in 
width. 

Alkali Lakes. — Three lakes, bearing each the name 
of Alkali, are situated in the eastern limit of Siskiyou 
county, and east of the Sierras, running more than 
three-fourths of the width of the county, in a northerly 
and southerly direction, close to the State line between 
California and Nevada. They are in one of the richest 
agricultural valleys in the State. Innumerable streams 
running from the north and west empty into them; and, 
although these streams are of crystal purity, the water 
of the lakes is so alkaline that no living thing is found 
in them. Surprise valley, in which they are situated, 
contains some excellent aofricultural land. The streams 
and lakes at certain seasons swarm with wild fowls, 
geese, ducks, and crane. 

The most northerly of these lakes is fifteen miles 
south of the northern boundary of the State ; its length 
is fifteen miles, and its width eight. The centre one is 



LAKES IN CALIFORNIA. 173 

about three miles south of the northern one, and is six 
teen miles in length and seven in width. The one 
farthest south is connected with the centre one by a 
strip of water of three miles in length. The lake is 
nine miles long and nine broad ; a portion of it is in 
the northeast corner of Lassen county. 

Lower Klamath Lake. — This lake is directly on the 
boundary line between California and Oregon — half in 
each State ; and is high in the Sierras amidst rugged 
hills and the desolate table-lands of Siskiyou county. 
Its extent is fifteen miles in length by six in width, and 
is connected by a stream of five miles in length with 
Upper Klamath lake, lying directly north and in the 
State of Oregon, and with Rhett lake, in Siskiyou 
county, by a stream of nine miles in length. 

Lake Tahoe. — Fourth in size is this queen of the 
Sierras, whose frowning granite walls upon the one side 
and rich foliage upon the other have been the theme of 
romantic poets, enthusiastic tourists, and sighing lovers. 
It is situated high in the Sierras, one-half being upon 
each side of the boundary line between the States of 
California and Nevada, and partly in the counties of 
Placer and El Dorado. It is twenty-one miles in length 
by twelve in width, and 6,220 feet above the level of the 
sea, nestled up among the tall pines, firs, and oaks, and 
overtopped by the towering pinnacles and snow-capped 
crowns of the Sierras, which reflect their lengthened 
shadows upon its placid bosom, as the setting sun gilds 
in golden hues the rich, wild, but picturesque and beauti- 
ful scenery around. The wild and leaping surge and 
deafening roar of the Niagara may impress the beholder 
•with the terrible power of Omnipotence; but to fill the 



174 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

soul with that sweet inspiration which calmly draws 
us into communion with the harmony of nature, the 
sublimity of perfection, and a contemplation of a better 
land, we must stand upon the silvery shores of Lake 
Tahoe, while, amidst a stillness sublime and awful, the 
rays of the morning sun like ribbons of gold dart 
through the chasms of the frowning mountains and 
through the dense forest, streaking with amber and 
golden sheen the placid blue waters, through whose 
transparent depths the landscape is mirrored below ; or, 
at the close of day, beneath the deep shadow of the 
stern Sierras, watch the mountain monarch as he comes 
from his forest glen to bathe his parched lips in this 
grand aerial urn — God's fountain in the wilderness, to 
beautify His footstool and invigorate His creatures. 

But Lake Tahoe is not always dreamy, calm, and 
placid : her fair smiles are often converted into frowns 
terribly threatening and uneasy. When the storm- 
cloud breaks over the Sierras, and the snow-flakes fly 
fast before the thickening gale, she dashes her angry 
foam in seething, fitful wrath upon the beetling rocks 
and green sward on the shores, striking with terror the 
unfortunate navigator, who, with his frail craft, is often 
submerged beneath its whelming waters. 

The colors and transparency of this beautiful sheet of 
water are some of its principal attractions. The shore 
of the lake is a hard, grayish sand. The water, which 
is a pea-green, gradually deepens, leaving the bottom 
of the lake at eighty feet clearly visible ; at about half 
a mile from shore, the color changes to a deeper green, 
but from first tinged with blue ; about one mile from 
shore, and where the shade is a very deep green, it 
suddenly changes to an almost indigo-blue : the lines 




SENTINEL ROCK YOSEMITE VALLEY, 
(4,500 feet high above the Valley.) 



LAKES IN CALIFORNIA. I 75 

of these three shades or colors are as distinctly drawn 
as if painted. 

For many years it had been supposed that this 
lake was bottomless ; but recent soundings establish 
its greatest depth to be about fifteen hundred feet. 
Several small boats ply on the lake, either to fish for 
trout, which are abundant, or for the recreation of the 
guests at the Tahoe House or Glenbrook House. A 
small steamer, the Governor Blaisdell, plies upon it, 
for the accommodation and pleasure of travellers. 
Coming years will behold this rare gem of nature and 
its gorgeous scenery as the recreation-ground and 
watering-place of happy throngs of health and pleasure 
seekers. 

Clear Lake and Borax Lake. — These sheets of 
water are in the centre of Lake county, about eighty 
miles directly north of San Francisco, forty miles from 
the ocean, east of the Coast Range, and about fifteen 
hundred feet above the level of the sea. The greatest 
length of Clear lake is about twenty miles ; at both ends 
it is about eight miles in width, but contracts in the 
centre to about three miles. Close to the eastern side 
of this lake is Borax or Kayser lake, covering a surface 
of from two hundred to four hundred acres, according 
to the season. Great quantities of pure borax of the 
best quality are taken from the bottom of this lake. 

Mirror Lake, — This fascinating miniature lake, situ- 
ated in the famed Yosemite valley, formed by the spent 
waters of the Yosemite falls, bathes the foot of the 
North Dome, and covers a surface of about eight acres. 
It is noted for its transparent beauty. Here the over- 
hanging mountains, trees, and foliage are all mirrored 



176 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

in the water below, as clear and lifelike as they stand 
upon its banks. 

Owens Lake. — This lake is in Inyo county, two hun- 
dred and sixty miles southeast from San Francisco, and 
directly east of the principal chain of the Sierra Nevadas, 
in a country generally desolate and of little agricultural 
value. The extent of the lake is eighteen miles in 
length by eight in width. Owens river, a stream of 
pure water and considerable value, running from north 
to south, empties into this lake, the waters of which are 
so impregnated with alkali and chloride of soda that it 
is unfit for man or beast. Like most of the lakes in the 
southern section of the State it has no visible outlet, and 
is supposed to have some subterranean passage to the 
Pacific ocean. 

Fall Lake. — This lake is situated in the extreme 
northeast corner of Shasta county. It is about four 
miles in length and three in width, and is in Fall River 
valley. 

Swan Lake. — Swan lake Is in the western border of 
Lassen county, close to Plumas county. It is six miles 
in length and three in width, and high among the hills 
of the Sierras. 

Eagle Lake. — Eagle lake is centred in Lassen county. 
It is of very irregular shape, and, like Swan Lake, is high 
in the mountains. It is twelve miles in lenofth and about 
eight in width. Its waters are shallow. 

Honey Lake — Is twenty miles northeast from Eagle 
lake, is in Lassen county, and eight miles west of the 
boundary line between California and Nevada. It is 
very irregular in shape ; is fifteen miles in length and 



LAKES IN CALIFORNIA. lyj 

nine in width. Its water is very shallow and of a saltish 
taste. It is situated in Honey Lake valley, a rich 
meadow and farming district ; numerous streams empty 
into it, but it has no visible outlet. It derives its name 
from the. honey-dew deposited upon the shrubbery 
and grass in its vicinity, by the honey-dew aphis, a 
species of bee sometimes found in desert and barren 
regions. 

DoNNER Lake. — This beautiful sheet of water is in 
the southeastern corner of Nevada county, east of the 
main ridge of the Sierras, and twelve miles northwest 
of Lake Tahoe. It is four miles in length and one in 
width. The scenery and natural beauty of this lake 
are unsurpassed in the State; its shores are fast 
becoming a fashionable place of resort to the lovers of 
rural beauty. 

Clear Lake. — Clear lake is near the southeast end 
of El Dorado county, sixteen miles south of Lake Tahoe. 
It is high in the Sierras, and its surroundings are 
beautifully picturesque. The area of this lake is two 
miles in length and one in width 



&' 



Truckee Lake. — Truckee lake is a small but beautiful 
sheet of water in the Sierra mountains, sixteen miles 
directly west of the eastern boundary of the State, and 
twelve miles northwest of Donner lake. It is in Sierra 
county, close to its southern line; is about one and 
a-half miles in length and three-quarters in width. 

Highland Lakes. — These are three lakes almost in 
the centre of Alpine county, on a high ridge of the 
Sierras, surrounded by most gorgeous and imposing 
scenery of deep forest and beautiful meadow. The 



T78 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

waters of these lakes are clear and of great depth. 
They are about one and a-quarter miles in length each, 
and about three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and 
within one and a-half miles of each other. 

Lake Elenok. — This is the principal lake in Tuolumne 
county, about eight miles from the northern line of 
Mariposa county, and a few miles from where the Tuo- 
lumne river falls twelve hundred feet. It is perched 
high in the rugged Sierras ; is about two miles in 
leng-th and one mile in width. 



&' 



Mono Lake. — Mono lake is one of the most remark- 
;able sheets of water in the world. It is situated in the 
aiorthern part of Mono county, east of the Sierras, and 
nine miles west of the eastern State line, and one hun- 
dred and sixty-two miles due east from San Francisco. 
It is thirteen miles in lenorth and eig^ht miles in width. 
There are several islands in it ; the two principal ones 
close together in its centre are two miles each in length 
and a mile in width. The lake is supposed to occupy the 
bed of an ancient crater, and its waters to be one thou- 
sand feet lower than formerly. Numerous streams 
empty into this lake, yet its water is so bitter and so 
impregnated with lime, salt, borax, and carbonate of 
soda that no living thing exists beneath or floats upon 
it; its surface is a kind of oily fluid, over which the 
winds pass without causing a ripple. The wild fowls 
which inhabit the marshes and streams in its vicinity 
never light upon or touch its waters. From its bottom 
are thrown volumes of water, from boiling springs 
beneath, with such violence that a boat cannot be kept 
upon its surface. 

From the principal island in this lake open angry 



LAKES IN CALIFORNIA. 



179 



mouths, from which are emitted gusts of steam, gas, 
and smoke, which attest the unquenched fires below. 
The deserted aspect of its surroundings, the volcanic 
cones which lift their beetling heads thousands of feet 
above the sterile scene, all lend an aspect of desolation, 
well entitling this cauldron to the name of the "Dead 
Sea." 

It would be well to notice here that one sign of life, 
and one only, is visible in this lake. In summer a 
small fly deposits its eggs upon the oily surface ; soon, 
millions of small, whitish worms float thereon, drifting 
in windrows upon the shore, when they are gathered 
by the Indians, who make them a staple of food and 
consider them a luxury. 

Guadalupe Lake — Is situated in the extreme western 
corner of Santa Barbara county, a little less than one 
mile from the Pacific ocean. It is a long, narrow sheet 
of water lying in a valley, extending in a westerly and 
easterly direction seven miles, and is about one mile in 
width. 

BuENAVESTA Lake. — This lake is in the Tulare valley 
in Kern county, eleven miles from its western line. 
It is nine miles in length and four and one-half miles 
in width. 

Kern Lake. — Directly east of Buenavesta lake, and 
connected by a narrow strip of water of about four miles 
in length, is Kern lake ; its course being east and west, 
about eight miles in length and three and a-half in 
width. Both this and Buenavesta lake are connected 
by streams with Tulare lake, which is about forty-three 
miles north of them. 



l8o T^I^ GOLDEN STATE. 

Dry Lakes. — From the western line of Los Angeles 
county on the Pacific ocean to the eastern boundary line 
of this State, in the centre of Inyo county, a distance of 
two hundred and twenty miles, thence southerly to the 
extreme southern boundary of the State, at the junction 
of the Gila and Colorado rivers, a distance of three hun- 
dred miles from Inyo county, and embracing the counties 
of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and the 
southern portions of Kern and Inyo, there is not a 
single lake of any size, although this area contains sixty 
thousand square miles, or more than one-third of the 
area of the whole State. The Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains are lost before they reach this tract, which, on its 
eastern line, is a dreary waste of alkaline plains and 
jagged volcanic peaks. A great portion of this area 
was at some remote period covered with water, as the 
numerous beds of dry lakes attest. There are eighteen 
of these lake-beds now dry in this tract, with an area 
of sixteen thousand five hundred square miles, includ- 
ing Death Valley, in the western corner of San Bernar- 
dino and the south end of Inyo county, and twelve 
miles from the eastern State line, embracing an area 
of forty miles in length and ten miles in width, a great 
portion of which is one hundred and fifty feet below 
the level of the sea, an ash-bed of burning sands and 
alkali dust. 




DONlS'Eli ;.AKK, AXn RAILROAD TUNNEL, SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS. 
(6,000 feet above the sea. 1 



RIVERS IN CALIFORNIA, l%\ 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Pvivers — Bays — Harbors — Bay of San Francisco — Puget sound — 
Fort Point — Straits — San Quentin — Islands — Seal Rock — Cliff 
House — Sea-lions — Golden Gate : origin of the name. 

RIVERS. 

In the whole coast line of California of seven hun- 
dred miles there are no rivers of any considerable 
magnitude or navigable importance, except the Sacra- 
mento and San Joaquin, and they empty into the Bay 
of San Francisco and have their outlet through the 
Golden Gate. 

Sacramento River. — This is the principal navigable 
river in the State ; its source is high in the Sierras, in 
the northern part of Shasta county, fed by innumerable 
streams which dash wildly through deep canons and 
mountain gorges, falling more than five thousand feet 
in five miles. After reaching the lower agricultural 
country, it flows in a meandering stream of consider- 
able magnitude, skirted by willows, oaks, cottonwood, 
and sycamore trees. In its serpentine windings, it 
passes through the counties of Shasta, Tehama, and 
Colusa, forming the county line between Sutter, Yolo, 
Sacramento, Contra Costa, and Solano, where it empties 
into Suisun bay, then into San Pablo bay, and through 
the Bay of San Francisco to the Golden Gate. Its 
general course is from north to south from its source 
to Sacramento City, which is about two hundred and 
forty miles ; and from Sacramento to San Francisco, 
about one hundred and twenty miles, its course is froni 
east to west Steamers drawing three feet of water 



1 82 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

run from San Francisco to Sacramento, and those 
drawing fifteen inches run from Sacramento to Red 
Bluff, in Tehama county, two hundred and forty-seven 
miles from San Francisco. 

San Joaquin River. — The source of this river is in 
the Sierras, in an opposite direction from that of the 
Sacramento, and in the extreme eastern part of Fresno 
county. Its course is from east to west, and for its first 
fifty miles it is fed by a number of mountain streams, 
which are of great volume and rush in precipitous 
descent through dark and frowning canons. Passing 
through the western part of Fresno county, it reaches 
the fertile San Joaquin valley, through which it passes 
directly in the centre of Merced, Stanislaus, and San 
Joaquin counties, finally emptying into the Sacramento 
at Suisun bay. Steamers drawing five feet of water run 
upon this river to Stockton, at the head of tide navi- 
gation, one hundred and twenty miles from San Fran- 
cisco, and boats of lighter draught ascend much higher, 
up the river. 

Feather River. — This river has its source in the 
rugged Sierras, in Plumas county, and is fed by numer- 
ous crystal streams which leap in wild cascades down 
abrupt descents through Plumas and Butte counties, 
until it reaches Oroville and Marysville : thirty miles 
below the latter it joins the Sacramento. Steamboats 
of light draught run from Sacramento to Marysville, a 
distance of fifty miles. The general course of the 
stream is in a southwesterly direction. The beds of 
this stream and Its tributaries have produced millions 
of gold. It Is not navigable. 

Yuba River. — This river, which empties into the 



RIVERS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 83 

Feather river at Marysville, has its source in the 
Sierras in the eastern part of Nevada county, and near 
the eastern boundary of the State, Its course through 
Nevada and Yuba counties is among deep ravines and 
gulches, and over the repositories of millions of gold. 
It is not navio^able.- 

American River. — The American river, so famous 
in early days for its gold deposits, has its source near 
Lake Tahoe in the Sierras. It runs almost due west, 
and forms the line between the counties of El Dorado 
and Placer. It is a dashing stream, often passing 
through deep ravines and dark, shady forests. Running 
through the lower portions of Sacramento county, it 
winds slowly through the plain until it meets the 
Sacramento just above Sacramento City. It is not 
navigable. 

There are a number of rivers emptying into the San 
Joaquin, having their source high in the Sierras, and 
running over and through deep gorges and canons 
toward the south, and averaging from one hundred to 
one hundred and twenty miles in length ; many of them 
are of great beauty and volume : among these are the 
Cosum7ies, Mokalumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuohimne, 
and Alerced. 

King's River. — King's river is a stream of much 
volume. Its source is in the Sierras in the eastern 
portion of Fresno county, and south of the San Joaquin. 
For the first fifty miles it rushes over precipitous rocks 
and mountain gorges ; striking the Tulare valley, it 
courses sluggishly through the tule swamps until it 
empties into Tulare lake. This river is about ninety- 
five miles in length. 



184 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Kern and Bravo Rivers. — Both these rivers have 
their source in the lower end of the Sierra range, in the 
eastern part of Tulare county'. They carry a consider- 
able body of water through rough canons and gorges, 
until they meet the tule lands of Kern county, where 
they empty into Kern lake, from which to their source 
they are more than one hundred and twenty miles in 
lenofth. 

Owens River. — This river issues from the White and 
Palisade mountains, east of the Sierras and close to 
the eastern line of the State, in Mono county , hundreds 
of little streams from both sides of these mountains swell 
its volume, its course being southwest, until it empties 
into Owens lake. This river is about one hundred miles 
in length, but is not navigable. 

MoHAVA River. — The Mohava river issues from the 
San Bernardino mountains in the western part of San 
Bernardino county, sixty miles east from the Pacific 
ocean. Its course is nearly southeast a distance of one 
hundred miles, where it is lost in the Shik of the Mohava, 
in the southeastern section of San Bernardino county. 

Coast Rivers. — The rivers emptying into the Pacific 
ocean, with the exception of those principal ones whose 
outlet is through the Golden Gate, are but few, and 
not one navigable except for a short distance by small 
craft of light draught. There are seven small streams 
that empty into the ocean from San Diego county, the 
most southern county of the State; none of them are of 
much importance, the greatest being about sixty miles 
in length. They are not navigable. San Diego, San 
Bernardino, San Louis Rey, and Margarita are the. 
principal ones in this county. 



RIVERS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 85 

Six small rivers and numerous creeks find their way 
from the Coast Range to the Pacific, the entire length 
of the State ; six have an outlet through Los Angeles 
county : none of them are navigable. Santa A^ia and 
Sail Gabriel are the chief ones, the former being about 
fifty miles in length. The Los Angeles is a branch, of 
considerable magnitude, of the San Gabriel ; its course 
is from east to west. • 

In Santa Barbara county there are bu three rivers : 
they have their source in the Coast Range and empty 
into the Pacific ocean: none of them are of any impor- 
tance. The Santa Clara, in the southern part of the 
county, has its source in the northern part of Los 
Angeles county; its length is about fifty miles. The 
Santa Inez, running almost due west and emptying into 
the Pacific ocean near the northern line of Santa Bar- 
bara county, is about seventy miles in length, and is fed 
by innumerable streams. 

Santa Maria or Cuyama River. — ^This river has its 
source in the eastern portion of Santa Barbara county, 
and forms the western line of that county for almost 
one hundred miles in its serpentine course in a direct 
westerly line to the Pacific ocean, where it empties at 
the Bay of San Louis. It is not a navigable stream. 

Carmel and San Jose Rivers. — These two rivers 
have their source in Saint Lucia mountains, a chain of 
the Coast Range, in Monterey county. They are each 
about fourteen miles in lensfth. Runninof northwest, 
they empty into the Pacific at Carmel bay, four miles 
south of the town of Monterey, in Monterey county. 
They are not navigable. 

' Salinas River. — This is the only stream of any im- 



1 86 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

portance west of the Santa Inez to this point. Its source 
is in the rueg^ed Santa Barbara mountains, in the lower 
end of San Louis Obispo county, through the corner of 
which it passes in a northwesterly course the entire 
length of the county, thence through the centre of 
Monterey county to the Bay of Monterey and the 
Pacific ocean, where it finds an outlet. Its course for 
its entire length of about two hundred miles is along 
the coast line about fifty miles from the ocean; it is fed 
by numerous streams which water the fertile Salinas 
valley. 

Pajaro River. — This stream has Its source in the 
southern section of the Mount Diablo mountains, in the 
southern part of Santa Clara county, running almost 
west. It forms the boundary line between the counties 
of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. It is about 
forty miles in length, and empties into Monterey bay 
about twenty miles south ot the town of Santa Cruz. 
It is not navigable. 

The San Felipe is considerable of a stream, having 
its source in Santa Clara county, and emptying mto the 
Pajaro river. 

Sa7i Benito river has its source about the middle of 
Monterey county, running parallel with the ocean north- 
west for sixty miles ; it empties into the Pajaro fourteen 
miles from its mouth. 

San Lorenzo River. — The San Lorenzo is the only 
river in Santa Cruz county. It has its origin in the 
Coast Range, and runs south a distance of about fifteen 
miles and directly south of the town of Santa Cruz, 
where it empties into the Pacific ocean. From this point 
northward along Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and crossing 



RIVERS IN CALIFORNIA, 1 87 

tlie Golden Gate, thence the length of Marin count>', 
there is not a stream of any note until reaching a third 
of the length of Sonoma county. 

Russian River. — This river rushes down in consider- 
able volume through the rugged peaks and canons of 
the Coast Range; its source is midway in the county of 
Mendocino, and it is fed by a number of streams. For 
seventy miles its course is almost due south, when, at 
a point in Sonoma county, six miles from the northern 
corner of Napa county, it turns suddenly toward the 
west ; passing through the centre of Sonoma county, it 
dashes in serpentine course through gulches of the Coast 
Range until it empties into the Pacific ocean'. West- 
ward from this point, for almost three degrees of lati- 
tude, along the northern half of Sonoma county, all of 
Mendocino county, and the southern half of Humboldt 
county, the whole coast line is indented with small 
rivers and creeks, none of which are of any importance ; 
VVallahalliu, in Sonoma county, and Nevarro, Albioji, 
Gi^ande, and Noyo, in Mendocino county, and Mattole 
and Bear rivers, in Humboldt county, being the chief 
ones, none of which are navigable. 

Eel River. — The source of this river is in the Coast 
Range, in the centre of Mendocino county, more than 
one hundred and twenty miles from where it reaches 
the Pacific ocean. Hundreds of streams pour down the 
gulches and through the forests to join it on its course, 
making Mendocino and Humboldt counties through 
which they flow the best-watered sections of the State. 
The course of the Eel river is directly northwest, follow- 
ing the course of the coast, about twent}^-five miles from 
the ocean, until it empties into the Pacific five miles south 



1 88 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of Humboldt bay, in Humboldt county. From this 
point north for twenty miles, to the northern boundary 
of Humboldt county, there are six rivers, all small ; the 
two principal ones, Elk and Jacoby, empty into Hum- 
boldt bay in Humboldt county. 

Mad River. — Five miles north of Humboldt bay, and 
at the northern boundary of Humboldt county, is the 
outlet of Mad river, which has its source in the southern 
corner of Trinity county, from whence, through the 
lower part of this county and the northern half of 
Humboldt county, it courses in a northwesterly direc- 
tion, and on a parallel with Eel river at a distance of 
eighteen miles to the northeast. It is fed in its course 
of almost one hundred miles by numbers of streams 
shooting forth from the deep forests and canons of 
Humboldt county, until it pours its volume into the 
Pacific ocean five miles north of Humboldt bay. 

Little River. — Eight miles north of Mad river, and 
in the southern part of Klamath county, is this stream, 
running due west from the Coast Range to the Pacific ; 
it is about fifteen miles from its source to its mouth. 

Redwood Creek. — Twenty miles farther north, in 
Klamath county, is Redwood creek, having its source 
in the northern part of Humboldt county, and running 
northwest a distance of forty miles ; passing through 
the forests and canons of the western side of Klamath 
county, it empties into the Pacific ocean eighteen miles 
south of Klamath river, at a point called Gold Bluff. 

Klamath River. — This river has its source in the 
northern portion of California among the Sierras and 
lakes, directly bn the Oregon and California State line, 



RIVERS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 89 

many of its branches pushing far into the southern 
part of Oregon. It crosses the Oregon line and enters 
California in a well-defined stream in Siskiyou county, 
one hundred miles due east from the northern State 
line, on the Pacific ocean. From this point it courses 
in a rapid and dashing volume through the northern end 
of Siskiyou county, crosses the southern corner of Del 
Norte county, down to the lower part of Klamath county, 
a distance of one hundred and twenty miles: in this 
course it has gathered great volume and force from the 
numerous tributaries of the dense forest and mountains 
of this section of country. Twelve miles from the 
southern line of Klamath county, it turns suddenly from 
its course of southeast to northwest, crosses again in 
an opposite course the northern line of Klamath county, 
eighteen miles from the ocean, enters the southern line 
of Del Norte county, which it follows, still in its north- 
westerly direction, for eighteen miles, when it empties 
into the Pacific. From the ocean, for forty miles, it is 
navigable for steamers of light draught. At this point 
is the mouth of the 

Trinity River. — Having Its source in the northeast- 
ern corner of Trinity county, it winds its serpentine 
course through its rocky and precipitous channels 
through half the length of that county, in a south- 
westerly direction ; then, suddenly turning northwest, 
enters the southern portion of Klamath county, where 
it empties Into the Klamath river forty miles from its 
mouth. 

North of Klamath river, and the only one north of 
that in the State, is 

Smith River. — This river rises In the "northern part 



190 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of Del Norte county, close to the Oregon line. It is 
joined in its course by innumerable streams from both 
sides. Its direction is due west for twenty miles from 
its source, when it turns northwest and empties into 
the Pacific ocean close to the northern State boundary 
in latitude forty-two. 

Pitt River. — Pitt river has its source in Siskiyou 
county, in the Warren range of mountains, near Goose 
lake. Its course is in a southwesterly direction through 
Siskiyou county, across the northwestern portion of 
Lassen county, into the northeastern corner of Shasta 
county, where it merges into the principal branch of the 
Sacramento river. Its length from its source to this 
point is about one hundred miles ; it passes through a 
rugged and mountainous country. 

Scott and Shasta Rivers. — These two rivers are of 
considerable volume in the spring time. They run west 
through the northwestern corner of Shasta county, and 
empty into the Klamath river. Their length each is 
about thirty miles. 

BAYS AND HARBORS. 

From the southwest line of the State to its northern 
boundary, a distance of eight hundred miles, there are 
but three first-class harbors — the Bay of San Francisco 
and the harbors of San Diego and Humboldt. Besides 
these there are fifteen bays and harbors, chiefly open 
roadsteads or inlets : none of these are sufficiendy 
secure in all kinds of weather, or of sufficient depth, to 
afford protection or render them attractive as places of 
resort for shipping. Aside from these bays there are 
almost innumerable rivers and indentations in the coast 



BAYS AND HARBORS IN CALIFORNIA. I9I 

where small craft can seek shelter in cases of emer- 
gency, and to and from which an active coast-trade is 
carried on by small steamers and sailing craft. 

The bays and harbors of the coast are here described, 
commencing at San Diego, and following the line of 
the coast north to the northern boundary of the State. 

San Diego Harbor. — This is the most southerly har- 
bor on the coast of California. It is twelve miles north 
of the line between California and Mexico, in San Diego 
county, and about four hundred and forty-six miles south 
of San Francisco. A broad channel of thirty feet depth 
of water leads into this fine harbor, which is completely 
landlocked, with good anchorage, and a length of twelve 
miles and from two to three miles in width. Large 
steamers ply between San Francisco and this port, which 
is fast becoming of commercial importance. The town 
of San Diego is situated on the northern end of the bay. 
The next harbor northward is 

San Pedro Bay. — This bay is situated near the centre 
of Los Angeles county, on the coast, three hundred and 
seventy-five miles south of San Francisco. This harbor 
is exposed to the south winds, which render it very unsafe 
in winter. The water for two miles from shore is shal- 
low, lighters having to be used to discharge cargo. An 
inlet from this bay, with Deadman's island near its mouth, 
forms the entrance to Wilmino^ton, a thrivine town. 
The town of Los Angeles is directly east from this 
point, about twenty miles inland, and is connected with 
it by a railroad. Anaheim Landing is formed by an 
inlet from this bay, which is only an open roadstead 
formed by a projecting cape. Northward, for the entire 
length of Santa Barbara county, there is not a single 



192 ' THE GOLDEN STATE. 

bay of any importance, although there are several inlets 
suited to coasting vessels. 

San Louis Bay. — This bay is on an open roadstead, 
in the southern end of San Louis Obispo county, formed 
by Point San Louis, extending out about five miles. 
There is good anchorage, but the harbor, if it can be so 
called, is sheltered only from north winds. It is about 
two hundred miles south of San Francisco. 

EsTERo Bay. — Sixteen miles north of San Louis bay 
is Estero bay. The main bay is an open roadstead ; but 
Moro Rock, runningf out for about four miles, forms a 
bay of three miles. in length, secure from all winds except 
the westerly. It is in about the centre of the coast line 
of San Louis Obispo county ; it affords good shelter, 
and has sufficient depth of water. 

CARMfiLO Bay. — This little bay is directly south of 
Cypress Point, the most prominent headland of Monte- 
rey county, and about four miles south of the town and 
harbor of Monterey. It is about three miles in length 
and two in width ; has deep water, but is exposed to the 
south and west winds. The ruins of the old mission of 
San Carlos are here. The bay possesses much natural 
beauty, but is of little commercial importance. Four 
miles north of this is 

Monterey Bay. — It is formed by an oblong indenta- 
tion in the coast in the north end of Monterey county, 
and the southern end of Santa Cruz county. It is ninety 
miles south of San Francisco. The bay is twenty-five 
miles wide, and twelve miles in a line from the outer 
points of Cypress on the south and Santa Cruz on the 
north. At its southern limit is the town and landinor 



BAYS AND HARBORS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 93 

of Monterey, close to which, on Point Pinos, is a H^^hi- 
house. The Salinas river empties into the centre of this 
bay, at the western extremity of which is situated the 
town. The towns of Santa Cruz and Monterey are 
twenty-five miles apart across the bay, which is open to 
the south and west, but has a sufficient depth of water; 
large steamers and sailing craft enter this bay. There 
is a brisk trade between San Francisco and this place. 

Bay of Santa Cruz. — It is situated in the southern 
end of Santa Cruz county, and the northern part of 
Monterey bay, of which it is almost a part. It is but an 
open roadstead, exposed to the south and west winds, 
and on that account is not safe at all times. The bay is 
small, but has very deep water; and is of considerable 
commercial importance, in consequence of extensive 
lime - kilns, powder and paper mills, and tanneries ; 
besides being the outlet of a rich agricultural section of 
country. Steamers and sailing vessels ply regularly 
between this port and San Francisco, from which it is 
distant eighty miles south. The thriving town of Santa 
Cruz is situated at its head. The next harbor north- 
ward is in San Mateo county. 

Half-moon Bay. — It is a small indentation in the 
coast, protected from the north winds by a projecting 
point, but exposed to the south and west. As a harbor 
it is of little importance. Small steamers and sailing 
vessels of light draught run between this point and San 
Francisco, which is forty-six miles north. It is sur- 
rounded by a rich agricultural valley and rolling hills. 
Spanish Town, a small village, is inland about two miles 
from the bay. Following the coast line north the next 
harbor is the 



194 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Bay of San Francisco — Which has its outlet throuofh 
the Golden Gate, and which, for size, depth, ease of 
entrance, and security, is unsurpassed in the world, ex- 
cepting by Ptiget sound in Washington Territory. The 
Golden Gate, or entrance to the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, is situated in latitude 2)1'^ 48' north, and longitude 
122° 30' west from Greenwich. The discovery of this 
bay will be found treated of in another chapter. The 
entrance to the bay is through a passage running due 
east for a distance of five miles in length, and is about 
two miles wide; this passage and the bay inside are of 
great depth and of easy access, there being thirty feet 
of water at low tide. On the northern side of the en- 
trance rise almost perpendicular, dark, and frowning 
rocks, to a height of three thousand feet, where, at Point 
Bonita, is a light-house. On the southern side, at the 
entrance, is built, in the solid rock, at Fort Point, a 
strong fortification, completely guarding the entrance. 
From this point to San Francisco is a range of rolling 
and grassy hills, a great part of the small valleys being 
covered with mountains of white and drifting sands. 

Six miles from the entrance of the Golden Gate is 
the city of San Francisco. Here the bay turns south- 
ward in the direction of San Jose for thirty miles, form- 
ing a peninsula between it and the Pacific ocean, upon 
which is the city and county of San Francisco. The 
bay at its widest point between San Francisco and San 
Jose is twelve miles ; at Oakland, directly east of San 
Francisco on the opposite side of the bay, it is eight 
miles in width. Coursing west from San Francisco the 
bay extends north until it meets San Pablo bay, form- 
ing a continuous sheet of water west of San Francisco 
of thirty miles in length and twelve miles at its widest 



jBavs and harbors m California. 195 

point ; thus making- this landlocked ocean sixty miles 
runninof north and south and about nine miles in width. 

At the northeastern portion of San Francisco bay are 
Mai'e straits. Here is situated the town of Vallejo, on 
the west side of Solano county. Directly opposite 
Vallejo is the United States navy-yard on Mare island. 
At these places there are deep water and safe anchorage. 
Passing through the Straits of Carquines, a narrow pas- 
sage of eight miles, in an easterly direction, is met Stcisutt 
bay, extending ten miles in length. Here the Sacra- 
mento and San Joaquin rivers empty their great volumes 
received from the vast interior of the State through a 
thousand tributary streams, all finding their way through 
the Golden Gate. 

On the north of San Pablo bay, and east from San 
Francisco thirty miles, are the counties of Napa and 
Sonoma; and on the west side the county of Marin, 
being the northern peninsula which, at the entrance 
of the Bay of San Francisco, forms its northern rock- 
bound wall ; in this county, on the bay, twelve miles 
from San Francisco, is the State prison at San Quentin. 

There are several islands in the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco. Alcati^az island, six miles from the entrance — 
the Golden Gate — is in the centre of the channel : a 
solid rock of sixteen hundred feet in length and four 
hundred and fifty feet in width, and about one hundred 
and thirty-five feet above the level of the sea. It is a 
strong fortress, bristling with heavy artillery from 
granite walls ; and, in conjunction with the heavy arma- 
ment at Fort Point, and Black Point between Fort 
Point and San Francisco, is a complete harbor-defence. 

Angel island, close to Marin county, directly north 
of Alcatraz and four miles from San Francisco, contains 



196 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

about eight hundred acres, chiefly good land; strong 
fortifications have been built here recently. 

Directly in the line between San Francisco and Oak- 
land, midway in the bay, is Yerba Bueiia, or Goat island. 
It is less in size than Angel island, and is held by the 
United States as a military station, although no troops 
have ever been stationed there. A brido-e of consider- 
able length extends from Oakland toward this island, 
this bridge being the terminus of the overland railroad. 

Four miles north of Angel island is Red Rock. 
Further north, in San Francisco bay, is Bird Rock and 
the Two Sisters. There are other small islands and 
rocks in the bay, but not of sufficient importance to 
mention. 

About a mile south of the Golden Gate is Seal Rock, 
3t clump of jagged rocks standing high above the sea, 
worn and scarred by the incessant dashing of the waves, 
which in stormy weather break over them with terrible 
fury ; the roar of the waters can often be heard at San 
Francisco, a distance of eight miles. These rocks in 
calm weather are a source of great interest owing to 
the immense seals, frequently called sea-lions, which 
continually crawl up their rugged sides and bask upon 
them, keeping up a constant howl, much to the amuse- 
ment and wonderment of the visitors at the Cliff House, 
who, upon the balcony, level their glasses upon them. 
Some of these animals are as large as an ox. They 
are protected by law from the sportsman's slaughter. 

The name Golden Gate is applied to the entrance of 
the Bay of San Francisco. Many attempts have been 
made to ascertain the origin of this name and its appli- 
cation to this passage, but all without satisfactory 
results, few writers going beyond the year 1847, when 



f,0mwimmm&i 




BAYS AND HARBORS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 97 

the name appears in the '■'■Geographical Memoir of Cali- 
fornia^ written by John C. Fremont, who had explored 
the country. 

In ''The Book of Constant PuHty'' ascribed to Lau- 
ki-un, a Chinese philosopher, who is supposed to have 
lived more than fourteen centuries before Christ, the 
words golden gate are first found in the records of the 
human family, and indeed nowhere else, except in 
modern writings pertaining to the harbor of San Fran- 
cisco, is the name found. A Chinese sage, speaking of 
"The Book of Constant Purity',' says: "Scholars of the 
first rank, if they understand it, will be raised to become 
heavenly rulers. Those of the second rank, if they 
attend to its instructions, will be placed among the 
immortal sages of the southern palace. Those of the 
lowest class, if they obtain this book, will enjoy long 
life on earth, roam at will through the three worlds, 
and enter the Golden Gate." Whether or no this 
prophetic allusion applies to the hundred thousand, of 
the " lower class," of Chinese who have, since the dis- 
covery of the precious metals in California, entered the 
Golden Gate is left to the judgment of the reader. 

The great temple of Solomon, which was begun 
1012 B. C, was ornamented with the precious metals, 
and this with other edifices and palaces erected by this 
proud king are said to have had " gates of gold." 

Whatever the origin of the name. Golden Gate, as 
applied to the entrance to the Bay of San Francisco, 
although applied long before the discovery of gold in 
California, is certainly most appropriate, for through 
this gate has passed more gold than through any other 
port in the world. 

The early navigator or explorer, after the perils of a 



198 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

tedious sea-voyage or the trials of the arid plains and 
the frosts of the stern Sierras, when first beholding the 
beautiful Bay of San Francisco, burnished like molten 
gold with the bright sun of a California sky, might well 
exclaim, Chrysorrhoas ! (Golden Stream,) the name ap- 
plied to a beautiful river in Syria near Damascus; 
or the name might have been suggested to some navi- 
gator by Chrysocei^as, (Horn of Gold,) a name applied 
to the harbor of Byzantium. 

BoLiNAS Bay. — Ten miles north of the Bay of San 
Francisco is Bolinas bay, formed by a projecting point 
of rocks, on the west side of Marin county. It is shel- 
tered only from the north and west, and is of little 
importance except for small coast-traders. 

Drake's Bay. — This famous historic bay Is the place 
visited by Sir Francis Drake in 1579, and which some 
supposed was the Bay of San Francisco. It is directly 
south of the long projecting Point Reyes, in Marin 
county, and thirty miles north of the Golden Gate; is of 
considerable size, and well sheltered from the west and 
nordi, but is of little value as a commercial port. 

ToMALES Bay. — Eighteen miles north of Drake's 
bay, and forty-eight miles north of the Golden Gate, in 
Marin county, near the northern end of the county, is 
this bay. It is less than a mile in width, having eleven 
feet of water at low tide ; it is fifteen miles in length, 
heading southeast and parallel with the Coast Range. 
It is sheltered from all winds and perfectly landlocked. 
The surrounding country is a rich agricultural and 
grazing district, and a lively coast-trade is carried on 
between this point and San Francisco 



BAYS AND HARBORS IN CALIFORNIA. 1 99 

BoDEGO Bay. — Six miles directly north of Tomales 
bay, and where the southern corner of Sonoma county 
reaches the Pacific ocean, is this little bay, formed by a 
projecting point. It is well sheltered from the north 
and west, but is open to the southwest. It is only 
about two miles in length and one and a-half in width, 
viith nine feet of water at low tide. A small Russian 
settlement was established here in 1812, which was not 
abandoned until 1841. An active coasting and produce 
trade is carried on from this port to San Francisco. 
From this point north and along the coast for one hun- 
dred and seventy miles there is not a single harbor or 
safe entrance for a vessel of large size. This space 
embraces the northern half of Sonoma county, all of 
Mendocino and the greater part of Humboldt county. 
In this space there are numerous rivers and small inlets, 
to and from which an active lumber and produce trade 
is carried on with San Francisco. 

Humboldt Bay. — North of the Golden Gate two 
hundred and twenty-three miles, and in the northern 
part of Humboldt county, is Humboldt bay, entering 
the coast where the dense forests of firs and pines grow 
to the water's edge. The passage in is about a quarter 
of a mile wide and about half a mile long-, havine 
eighteen feet of water at low tide; inside, the bay swells 
north and south for six miles in each direction, leaving 
a narrow peninsula between it and the ocean. The 
bay inside is twelve miles from north to south, and 
about four in width ; it is completely landlocked, and is 
one of the most secure harbors in the State. Steamers 
and ships of all classes enter this bay, many of the lat- 
ter loading lumber and spars for foreign and domestic 



200 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

ports. The town of Eureka is situated on the inside 
of the bay. On the northern side of the entrance there 
is a good light-house ; there are also substantial tug- 
boats on the bay. This harbor was not discovered 
until 1850. 

Trinidad Bay. — ^Twenty miles north of Humboldt, 
and in the southern end of Klamath county, is Trinidad 
bay. It is an open roadstead, formed by a projecting 
cape toward the west ; it is exposed to the south and 
west winds, and on that account is not a safe harbor. 
It is small, but has good anchorage and plenty of water. 
The town of Trinidad is located at its head, is in the 
midst of a timbered district, and an active trade is car- 
ried on in timber from this port. It is two hundred and 
forty-three miles north from San Francisco. 

Crescent City Harbor. — ^This is the farthest harbor 
north upon the coast of California, forty-seven miles 
north of Trinidad and two hundred and ninety north 
of San Francisco. It is an open roadstead, formed by 
the projecting Cape of St. George, extending westward 
about a mile. It is in about the centre of Del Norte 
county, and seventeen miles south of the northern State 
line. One mile from shore the depth of water is only 
twelve feet ; vessels of any considerable size must dis- 
charge by lighters, but for vessels of light draught 
there is good wharf accommodation, and a considerable 
coast-trade is carried on between this point and San 
Francisco by steamer and sailing craft. Immense quan- 
tities of fir, pine, and redwood lumber leave this port. 
It is also the most northern point of egress and ingress 
to and from the mines in this section of the State and 



BAYS AND HARBORS IN CALIFORNIA. 20I 

in southern Oregon. Crescent City is located upon its 
northern beach. 

Pelican Bay. — A sort of bend in the coast forms this 
bay ; it is directly north of Crescent City, in the forty- 
second parallel of north latitude, the boundary between 
California and Oregon passing directly through its 
centre. A lagoon, six miles in length, and Smith river 
empty into it in the northern corner of Del Norte 
county. The Coquette river in Oregon, just north of 
the State line, also empties into this bay, which is an 
open roadstead, and not sheltered except by the coast 
on the east : it has no advantages as a harbor. 



202 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Islands off the coast — Farallones — Islands in bays and rivers — • 
First mint in California — Indian tribes — Shell money — Springs — 
Petroleum — Mud springs — Calistoga springs — Sulphur springs — 
Soda springs — ^Tar springs — Asphaltum — Geysers. 

ISLANDS. 

The islands of the coast line of California are few, 
consideringr the pfreat distance from San DieQfO to Hum- 
boldt. In the entire length of the State there are but 
seven islands of any importance, and these are at its 
southern end, the farthest north being off the county of 
Santa Barbara in latitude thirty-four degrees, and all 
within a coast line of seventy miles, leaving eight de- 
grees of latitude, or more than five hundred and fifty 
miles of coast, from Santa Barbara to the Oregon line^ 
without a single island except the Farallones, a clump 
of rugged rocks off the Golden Gate. 

Besides the islands off the coast there are several 
inside the Golden Gate ; these are described in the 
chapter treating upon the Bay of San Francisco. 

The islands of the coast will here be described in 
their order, commencing with the most southerly and 
continuing northward. 

San Clement Island. — This is the most southerly 
island of the coast. It is directly in the thirty-third 
degree of north latitude, and is forty-three miles distant 
from the coast of Los Angeles county; is twenty miles 
in length and five in width. There is but little good 
agricultural or grazing land upon this island ; its general 




THE SOUTH lARALLONE IbL\ND, I RUM THE BIO ROOKIRY, LOOKING SOUTH 
(Six barren rock islands. Twenty-five miles clue west of the Golden Gate in the Pacific Ocean. 




SEA LIUN.S AM) lllllR VoLNC, XICINITY Ot THE GOLDEN G^PE, CALH-ORNIA 
(These Sea Lions weigh from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds each.) 



ISLANDS IN CALIFORNIA. 20$ 

character Is barren and rocky ; and some of the peaks 
are over one hundred feet in height. 

Santa Catalina Island. — This island lies directly 
midway between San Clement island and the county of 
Los Angeles, about twenty miles from the coast, and is 
about the same size as San Clement; it is twenty miles 
in leno-th and five in width. There is considerable 
good land and some cultivation on the island, which 
has been a grazing field for thousands of sheep. Some 
of the mountains on this island rise three thousand feet 
above the sea. There are two good harbors, Union 
and Catalina ; and an abundance of ofood water on the 
island. Both this and San Clement island were, by act 
of the California Legislature of April 25, 1851, attached 
to the county of Los Angeles : they are south of San 
Francisco about four hundred miles. 

North of these islands and off the coast of Santa 
Barbara county are the five other islands forming the 
coast islands : the most southerly of these is 

Santa Barbara Island. — This island is thirty-six 
miles south of Santa Barbara county, is about two and 
a-half miles in length, about two miles in width, and 
about five hundred feet in height, rocky and irregular, 
and is the abode of innumerable sea-lions and wild 
birds. It is thirty-six miles from the mainland. There 
is but little good land on it. 

San Nicolas Island. — This Island is twenty-six miles 
northwest of Santa Barbara island and sixty miles from 
the mainland of Santa Barbara county ; it is twelve 
miles in length and five miles wide. A great portion 
of its surface is rocky, but there are some valleys, and 



204 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

large numbers of sheep pasture among them. Its 
greatest surface is about six hundred feet above the 
sea. It is about three hundred and forty miles from 
San Francisco. 

Santa Cruz Island. — Inside of San Nicolas, almost 
in a direct line east forty-two miles, twenty-five miles 
from the mainland and directly opposite the town of 
Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara county, is the island of 
Santa Cruz; it is twenty-four miles in length and seven 
miles in width. Its surface is rugged, but it has a great 
portion of good pasturage, upon which more than thirty 
thousand sheep graze. Wild hogs and goats abound 
in the mountains ; so numerous are the former that 
they destroy the sheep by devouring the young lambs, 
and although efforts have been made to exterminate 
these hogs, it has been impossible, as they secure them- 
selves in the dense jungles in the hills. These hogs 
first came from the Sandwich islands: they never grow 
large, and are somewhat like the North Carolina pine- 
woods hogs ; are long legged and long bristled, have 
great heads and tusks, run like race-horses, and gen- 
erally die if fed upon corn and potatoes. There is now 
a war of extermination waging between the sheep and 
hogs : the sheep by destroying the grass, and the hogs 
by rooting up the pasturage and devouring the lambs : 
the hogs have the sheep at a great disadvantage. 
There is good water on the island, and a safe harbor 
on the land side. It is two hundred and eighty miles 
south of San Francisco. 

Santa Rosa Island. — Five miles directly west of 
Santa Cruz island, and thirty miles from the mainland 
of Santa Barbara county, is Santa Rosa island, sixteen 



ISLANDS IN CALIFORNIA. 20$ 

miles in length, and twelve in width at its widest point. 
The sides of this island are about two hundred feet in 
height, with but few safe places for landing. The 
surface above this is almost level and produces abun- 
dant grass, upon which thousands of sheep pasture. A 
few Mexican families reside on the island. 

The first mint in California was established on this 
island, how long ago is uncertain — perhaps centuries 
before Julius Ceesar invaded Britain. From it was 
issued the panga or shell money of the Indians, which 
supplied the coast and interior tribes as far east as the 
Tulare and Owens lakes with the current funds of the 
aborigines. Once a year bands of Indians from the 
interior would visit the sea-coast at Santa Barbara 
county and the island of Santa Rosa, to trade with the 
island or coast tribes. Those of the interior brought 
panoche, (a thick sugar made from honey-dew and a 
species of wild cane,) nut pipes, and wild tobacco. This 
money was made from mussel shells found on the coast 
and the adjacent islands ; the pieces had holes in them, 
and were strung on fibres of wild hemp ; eight strings 
were of the value of a silver dollar ; and as this money 
brought the tribes into commercial intercourse, the 
priests encouraged it. As late as the year 1833, the 
Indians preferred this money to gold or silver. Not a 
trace of these once powerful coast-tribes, their canoes, 
or money remains at this date. Santa Rosa is two 
hundred and seventy-three miles south of San Fran- 
cisco. 

San Miguel Island. — Six miles west of Santa Rosa 
island, twenty-eight miles from the coast of Santa Bar- 
bara county, and two hundred and sixty-five miles south 



206 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of San Francisco, is the island of San Miguel ; it is nine 
miles in length and four in width ; is generally rocky, 
but a large number of sheep pasture upon it ; there is 
a harbor on the east side. The thirty-fourth parallel 
of north latitude runs directly through the three islands 
of Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. 

By act of the California Legislature, of April 25, 1851, 
the five islands, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, Santa Cruz, 
Santa Rosa, and San Miguel, were attached to the county 
of Santa Barbara. Most of these islands are visited 
by steamers from San Francisco. Following the coast 
northward for four hundred and fifty miles, to the 
Oregon State line, not an island is met with in the 
whole course except the clump of rocks off the Golden 
Gate known as the Farallones. 

Farallones Group. — Twenty-five miles due west 
from the Golden Gate is this group of six small islands, 
of rugged and barren rock, without soil, grass, or herb. 
The most southerly of the group contains about two 
acres, and is the largest of them all ; a spring of good 
water issues from the rocks, and a light-house is erected 
upon the principal island. This clump of barren rocks 
is in the possession of countless numbers of sea-lions 
and wild birds, the eggs of the latter having been for 
many years a source of considerable revenue to the 
companies engaged in gathering them. 

By act of the Legislature of California, of the 19th of 
April, 1856, the Farallones, Alcatraz, and Yerba Buena 
or Goat island were attached to the city and county of 
San Francisco. For description of these last-mentioned 
islands see Bay of San Francisco. 



HOT, MINERAL, AND OTHER STRINGS. 20/ 

SPRINGS. 

California is prolific in natural wonders: not only 
are her animals, forests, and vegetation astonishing to 
mankind — the Sierras and their lateral ridges in pro- 
ducing gold and silver — her mountains in elevating 
their pinnacles — her streams in pouring their dashing 
cataracts thousands of feet below — her myriads of 
singing crystal springs leaping from their mountain 
imprisonments to join the hurrying waters of the Sacra- 
mento and San Joaquin to the bosom of the Pacific — 
but the bowels of the earth, as if uneasy from the effects 
of a prolonged emetic, belch from its angry mouth vol- 
canic jets of mud, steam, sulphur, and bitter, mineral, 
hot, and cold water. 

From the centre of Mono lake (see Lakes) jets of 
steam and smoke are emitted in fitful flashes. Four 
hundred miles north of this point, and near the Mattole 
river, in Humboldt county, are numerous springs, not 
of water but of gas : some of them burst forth in jets of 
great force, and, when ignited, blaze, and hiss their 
forked tono^ues from the earth until the elements are 
quenched. From the head of a stream of water one 
of these jets sends forth its volume, which, when ignited, 
presents the singular appearance of the river being on 
fire. Small springs of petroleum are also found in this 
region. 

In San Diego county, near its centre, eighty miles 
east of the town of San Diego and fifty miles west from 
the Colorado river, is the bed of a lake of considerable 
size : it is about six feet below the level of the ocean. 
Five miles south of this, in an alkali flat, is a cauldron 
of boiling mud, tossing and shaking its angry sides and 



2o8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

surface, and emitting volumes of steam and sulphurous 
vapors, throwing with loud reports jets of mud high in 
the air. For many miles around this cauldron are hot 
springs and deposits of sulphur; a trembling motion 
is felt under foot for a great distance, and at times a 
rumbling, subterraneous noise is heard in the vicinity. 
There are also sulphur springs near this locality. 

In Alameda county, thirty-three miles in a direct line 
southeast from San Francisco, are warm and mineral 
springs possessing great medicinal qualities. They are 
the resort of pleasure-seekers and invalids during the 
summer season ; the climate is genial and salubrious. 

Calistoga Springs. — The springs at Calistoga, in 
Napa county, are seventy-six miles north from San 
Francisco. They are situated in a beautiful and fertile 
valley dotted with live oaks, and surrounded by rolling 
hills and mountains partly covered with trees. The 
view is very picturesque, and good hotel accommoda- 
tions make it a fashionable place of resort during the 
summer months. 

The springs, which boil from a low, boggy spot in the 
valley, form quite a group. Some of them are walled 
with boards and arranged for bathing ; some of them 
are also very hot, so much so that at a little depth eggs 
can be boiled in a few minutes. Although these springs 
are twenty-five miles distant from the Geysers, in So- 
noma county, they are supposed to be connected with 
them by some subterranean passage. Experiments 
made by boring to a depth of sixty feet proved the 
water to be so hot that no test of its actual heat could 
be made. 

White Sulphur Springs. — A group of springs 



HOT, MINERAL, AND OTHER SPRINGS. 209 

called the White Sulphur springs is also in Napa county, 
about seventeen miles north of Napa City. Sulphur 
water issues from the rocks in a narrow gorge in the 
mountains, through which a crystal stream dashes, sing- 
ing in its course beneath the deep and beautiful foliage 
of oaks, alder, and willows which fringe the margin of 
the stream. Rich foliage shades the springs and crowns 
the mountains. 

These springs and their surrounding scenery are most 
delightful. A comfortable hotel and cottages are main- 
tained here for the accommodation of guests. 

Soda Springs. — On the east side of Napa valley, and 
five miles north of the town of Napa, are situated the 
famous Soda springs. They are located on the side of 
a mountain, about one thousand feet above the level 
of the sea. These springs, which are very numerous, 
occupy about thirty-five acres of land. From these 
springs a very superior article of soda is obtained, 
which has become a staple beverage throughout the 
State : during the summer more than five thouj.and 
dozen bottles per month are sold. The water is pleasant 
to the taste, and by many is considered to possess great 
medicinal qualities : it contains bicarbonate of soda, 
carbonate of magnesia, carbonate of lime, chloride of 
sodium, subcarbonate of iron, sulphate of soda, siliceous 
acid, and alumina. 

Asphaltum and petroleum are found in several por- 
tions of the State. Asphaltum — a thick, tarry sub- 
stance — and petroleum issue from the surface of the 
earth. Seven miles west of Los Angeles more than 
twenty acres are covered with holes: from these bubbles 

up thick petroleum, which, when cool, forms asphaltum. 
14 



2IO THE GOLDEN STATE. 

In a deep canon, twenty miles east of Los Angeles, 
asphaltum issues from a mountain side, depositing large 
quantities in the gorge below. On the coast of Santa 
Barbara county, near Mount Hoar, asphaltum forms a 
thick coat upon the sea-shore, and in places runs far 
into the sea, following the beach from the slate rock 
from which it oozes. From these deposits as well as 
from those in Los Angeles county large quantities of 
asphaltum are shipped to San Francisco, where it is 
extensively used for roofing purposes; and, when mixed 
with gravel and sand, it forms the elegant sidewalks of 
San Francisco. 

Tar Springs. — Six miles west of Buena Vista lake, 
in the western part of Kern county and near the eastern 
line of Santa Barbara county, is a boiling spring of thick 
tar, and another of petroleum — the former covering 
about an acre. From the centre of this spring or lake 
constant jets of steam and gas escape ; as the fluid 
around the edges of the spring cools, it forms a solid 
asphaltum : birds, beasts, and reptiles, unconscious of 
danger, often rest upon this liquid matter around the 
edges, only to find themselves imbedded in the con- 
gealed and gluey mass in the embrace of death : their 
bones are found in great quantities in this congealed 
matter. 

In the southern and eastern portion of Kern county 
large tracts of alkali desert and salt marsh is found, 
with salt and hot springs. In the eastern part of this 
county, in a small valley, surrounded by high mountains, 
is a small salt lake, the water of which is very pure and 
very salt. The great evaporation caused by the rays 
of the sun pouring down in this little valley produces 



GEYSERS OF CALIFORNIA. 211 

great quantities of the best quality of salt. All the salt 
supply for this section of country is obtained in this 
lake. Salt and sulphur are also obtained at many 
points along the coast in the lower portion of the State; 
and in Alameda county, across the bay from San Fran- 
cisco, large quantities of salt are produced annually, by 
flooding the marsh lands with the water of the bay and 
damming it m, until, under the powerful rays of the sun, 
it is absorbed, leaving its crystals of salt on the bottom, 
from which they are gathered and sent to market. 

Geysers. — One hundred miles north of San Fran- 
cisco and twenty-five in a direct line north of Santa 
Rosa, in the northeast corner of Sonoma county, is one 
of the greatest natural curiosities in the State, if not in 
the world. In a deep canon, surrounded by sharp and 
abrupt peaks of the Coast Range, is the scene of the 
mysterious laboratory of nature known as the Geysers 
and hot springs. The springs, which are very numer- 
ous, are in Pluton canon, and cover a space of about 
two hundred acres ; they are about eighteen hundred 
feet above the level of the sea, with mountains on all 
sides from three thousand to four thousand feet in 
height; there are more than three hundred springs, 
steam-holes, and gas-jets in the group. On the side- 
hills in the vicinity oak and fir trees rear their heads 
above the smoke and steam of the cauldron below; and 
the scenery in the vicinity is picturesque and romantic. 
There is abundance of trout in the adjacent streams, 
and of bear, deer, and quail in the hills. There is good 
hotel accommodation, and were it not that during the 
summer months it is so warm, the Geyser springs 
would be a most agreeable summer resort for tourists. 



212 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The springs are of various sizes and degrees of heat; 
some so hot that an ^^g can be boiled in three minutes. 
The fluids emitted from these springs are of every color 
and shade: one, the "Devil's Ink Bottle," sends forth a 
good quality of black ink. Mingled with the fluids, 
impregnating the air, and crusting the surface in this 
vicinity, are alum, ammonia, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, 
sulphur, epsom salts, magnesia, and soda. 

A short distance from this is the "Witch's Cauldron," 
about seven feet in diameter, boiling and hissing, as its 
sable hell-broth lashes for three or four feet above the 
lips of the cauldron. The depth of this infernal pit is 
unknown. 

Some yards from the cauldron are "Steamboat 
springs," where, in apertures in the side of the rocks, 
in dense volumes, great jets of steam shoot forth with 
a roaring, thundering noise, like the escaping steam 
from a steamboat. Strange to say, that, in the edges 
of the steam and hot springs, where the heat is two 
hundred degrees, grass, flowers, and herbs grow : they 
are, however, peculiar to this place, and seem to flourish 
in water and steam that would destroy life in any other 
vegetable growth. 

In the vicinity of this laboratory of nature wagon- 
loads of alum, sulphates of iron, sulphur, and epsom salts 
can be gathered. The strange and fearful commotions 
in this locality, whether caused by chemical forces or 
from some unquenched furnace still devouring the rocks 
below, is well calculated to impress the beholder with 
the power of Omnipotence. 

Shocks of earthquakes, although irregular and uncer- 
tain in their oscillations and appalling in the extreme, 
soon pass away ; but to stand upon the verge of eter- 



GEYSERS OF CALIFORNIA. 21^ 

nity surrounded with volumes of steam and smoke, 
whose sulphurous odors stifle and blind, and where the 
quivering lips and gaping jaws coated with rough sul- 
phurous scales sputter In angry moans from infernal 
depths, while the black, yellow, and green -streaked 
boiling saliva from these angry mouths, whose fetid 
breath suffocates and confounds, lashes up its acid fluids, 
and seeminof to invite the beholder into the ''Devil's 
Cauldron," with his sins fresh blown upon him, is not to 
be trifled with nor easily forgotten. 

The famed Geysers of Iceland, Milton's Paradise 
Lost, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, warmed up with 
a doctrinal sermon upon the unquenchable fires of hell, 
may serve to awaken a lively imagination of the regions 
where the "worm never dieth ;" but, for a genuine 
realization of the blowpipe of his Satanic majesty, drop 
the hypochondriac in the midst of these seething scenes 
— let him cast his eyes upon the mountains of sulphur 
around — let him look upon the mysterious meander- 
ings of Pluton creek — inhale the gases and fumes emit- 
ted from the angry mouths craving for a drop of cold 
water — look upon the scalding and angry fluids — feel 
the sides of the crater tremble and swell beneath his 
feet, as heavy sighs come forth from its fathomless fur- 
nace, and its sulphurous crest is shaken in reckless 
defiance of the tame realities of every-day life — and the 
scene is complete, and the argument of unquenchable 
fires conclusive. 



214 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Waterfalls — Yosemite falls — Creeks — Rivers — Mirror lake — Bridal 
Vail — Earthquakes. 

There are few countries in the world so well supplied 
with water as California. She abounds in vast lakes, 
expansive bays, and swift rivers. The Coast Range 
of mountains pours innumerable streams of crystal 
water from its sides, cutting their way through its 
ridges to the ocean on the west, or coursing down its 
eastern side to water the fertile valleys below. In this 
range there are many beautiful canons, glens, and val- 
leys, through which these streams leap in sparkling 
cascades, affording tempting and cheap motive power 
for the wheels of Industry, and this power the growing 
necessities of the times will demand. 

Almost two hundred miles to the east of this chain 
of mountains are the famed Sierras, stretching for four 
hundred and fifty miles along the eastern line of the 
State, with their numerous lakes and dashing rills fed 
by the eternal snows of their mountain tops, and pour- 
ing their liquid streams into the parched valleys below. 
The myriads of bounding streams which course from 
the western slope of this range have many features of 
wild beauty and utility. Besides supplying the miner 
and agriculturist with water, their foaming, leaping 
tides, pouring through deep chasms thousands of feet 
below, over the frowning, precipitous walls of mcks, 
the rugged hlll-sldes, and through the tall trees, must, 
like the waters of the Coast Range, at no distant day 




NKAK VIEW OF THE YO-SF.MITI 1 \I I ^.- -J,() 54 ITU IX HI'.IC-.HT. 
(First Fall_ 1,600 Feet. Seconrl Fall 600 Feet Third Fall 434 Feet.) 



YOSEMITE AND ITS WONDERS. 21 5 

supply the busy scenes of skilled Industry with sufficient 
motive power. But whether or no the hand of science 
and industry shall tame the wild current of the Yo- 
semite, its natural beauty must hold supreme sway over 
all the great wonders of California. 

YOSEMITE FALLS. 

One hundred and forty miles due east from San Fran- 
cisco, and one hundred and eighty -two miles by the 
nearest line of travel, on the head waters of the Merced 
river and in the extreme eastern part of Mariposa 
county, forty-five miles west of the eastern State line, 
in a gorge of the Sierras, are the famed Yosemite falls 
and valley, one of the most picturesque spots in the 
world. 

The valley with the surroundings of this scene of 
marvellous beauty stands about 4,060 feet above the 
sea, Is about eight miles in length and one in width, 
swellincr In the centre to about three miles. It Is 
reached by a descent of over two thousand feet down 
the rueeed sides of the mountains by which it is sur- 
rounded. This beautiful valley, through the centre of 
which meanders in graceful curves a silver stream, upon 
whose sides is a green carpet of grass bespangled with 
delicately tinted flowers and studded with stately pines, 
presents in the deep forest a picture of unsurpassed 
beauty. The atmosphere, so pure, perfumed, buoyant, 
and invigorating, with the mellow sunlight flooding 
down upon this charming spot, makes it most attractive, 
and induces feelings of serene composure and good will 
toward men. 

Entering the valley at the west by a precipitous 



2 1 6 THE G OLDEN STA TE. 

descent, the green vale is brought suddenly to a termi- 
nation by the closing in pf the walls of a steep canon ; 
threading up this valley, frowning walls of granite of 
from three thousand to four thousand feet completely 
surround it, until the beholder is standing in the midst 
of the wildest, most terribly grand, and awe-inspiring 
natural architectural splendor on the globe. Casting 
his eyes upward, he beholds the grandest scene of 
nature, before which the majesty of the pyramids of 
Egypt, the frigid walls of Iceland's mountains, the 
glaciers of Lapland, and the stately grandeur of the 
Andes pale. No scene so grand can be found in the« 
gorges of Switzerland : neither the rugged face of Via 
Mala, the frowning pass of Tete Noir, nor the precipice 
over which the Staubbach pours its foam, can present 
such wild beauty. The cleft walls and lofty turrets of 
the Himalayas fail to equal the stern, imposing perpen- 
dicular walls of smooth granite, rearing their massive, 
clean sides, for almost a mile, sheer and stern. Nor 
can the wild roar and dashing tide of the Niagara equal 
the grand march of the crystal fountains leaping from 
their granite imprisonment and bounding headlong in 
reckless glee over and through these precipitous walls 
for 2,700 feet. Looking heavenward, the beholder 
views the soft-shaded drab sides of two perpendicular 
walls, rising almost a mile in height, and so close that, 
should either fall over, it would tumble against the 
other. Seeking in vain for the lost mass of rock which 
once filled the chasm, the conclusion is arrived at that 
the bottom must have dropped out, and the molten 
mass in the bowels of the earth received as a sweet 
morsel the millions of tons of granite once a part of 



EL CAPITAN AND THE DOMES. 21*] 

these mountains; and this idea seems to be entertained 
by the most scientific observers. 

Bastions, peaks, and shafts rear their heads in impos- 
ing grandeur. El Capitan lifts its sheer sides 3,300 
feet above the little valley ; cathedral spires push their 
slender granite shafts high in the air, above which the 
"Three Brothers" rear their unscarred and solemn walls 
four thousand feet in perpendicular grandeur above 
the valley. As the observer looks in reverence upon 
Jehovah's grandest masonry, the eye is relieved by 
what appears to be a shrub held in a crevice of the per- 
pendicular wall: it seems to cling nervously to the cold 
rock, yet shakes its tiny branches in defiance of all 
below: it is more than twenty-five hundred feet from 
the green vale below. This tiny shrub proves to be a 
gigantic forest pine, dwarfed in the distance. 

Still other attractions, mighty walls and frowning 
turrets, strike the beholder: "Sentinel rock," elevated 
three thousand feet from the valley, and the crowning 
grandeur of the scene — the "Dome" — whose bastion 
and perpendicular walls rear in unbroken masses 4,160 
feet above its pedestal, fringed with grass and beautiful 
flowers below. 

Contemplating these mighty, stern sentinels of eter- 
nity, whose domes may have been reared millions of 
centuries before the tree from which was plucked the 
forbidden fruit of Eden sent forth its first leaf — in the 
midst of these scenes, we sigh for the lost energies of 
Plato and Kepler, probing the sides and sounding the 
lungs of mother earth; we bear testimony to the ir- 
reparable loss to science that Whitson, Baron Fourier, 
De Maillet, Leibnitz, Hutton, Werner, Murray, Kirwan, 
Deluc, Lyell, Buckland, Humboldt, Hugh Miller, and 



2l8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Agasslz have never gazed upon these monumental piles 
abounding in rich evidences and stern lessons of geo- 
logical wonders. 

But these gigantic columns and frowning pillars are 
not the only wonders or beauties of Yosemite. Mingled 
with these stately domes, and pouring their sparkling 
gems from their aerial urns, are the most magnificent 
waterfalls that ever adorned the earth. Standing upon 
the sward below and looking upward, the scene is grand 
beyond description : through the narrow walls of the 
smooth rocks above is heard the thundering march of 
Yosemite fall, coming with its mighty torrent, thirty 
feet wide and three feet deep, dashing at a single bound 
sixteen hundred feet upon a ledge or grand shelf of 
granite; here, gathering its spent forces, it rallies again, 
and, leaping from urn to urn, frolics downward for a 
distance of seven hundred feet, eddying, curving, and 
sparkling along ; here, marshalling all its forces and 
raising its hoarse chorus in the wild cry of its last effort, 
it plunges furiously through the chasm four hundred 
additional feet, colling itself like a serpent in the basin 
of the lawn below, through which it sullenly meanders, 
whispering in subdued tones to the nodding flowers 
and foliage, which seem to recognize the presence of a 
dethroned monarch. The fall of this mightiest of cas- 
cades, from its uppermost height to its final repose in 
the valley below, is 2,700 feet; whilst the famed Vorings- 
fos of Norway, a mere thread In volume, is but 950 
feet, and the world-famed Niagara, although so vast in 
volume that It has no rival on the globe, falls but 1 60 
feet, but one-sixteenth of the fall of Yosemite, leaving 
the California waterfall the grreatest in the world. 

One of the many charming features of this spot is 




mmrf\s 



ill I mil 'li 






kll I P 1 Jllrinfriiililli.r i|,-,;llltjW^«'„;ti|iLI, 




Hh \^ 



I - %' 





CATHEDRAL ROCKS, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 
(2,660 feet high above the Valley.) 



YOSEMITE AND ITS BEAUTIES. 219 

the deep basin known as Mirror lake — a placid foun- 
tain formed from the spent diamond drops of the cata- 
ract, so transparent that the hanging cliffs, stately pines, 
and foliage upon its borders are so completely mirrored 
in its depths that, with their roots seemingly clinging to 
the surface and tops downward, all the verdure and 
beauty of the forest and grandeur of the mountains are 
seen — in reality above, in shadow below. The photog- 
rapher's art has beautifully portrayed this scene of 
substance and shadow in the familiar pictures of "Mirror 
lake" so common in the picture stores and art galleries 
of San Francisco. 

But all the beauty of Yosemite does not end with 
these scenes. We must yet dwell upon the most fairy- 
like pictures of earth: the "Bridal Vail," outrivalling 
the daintiest gossamer behind which blushing maiden 
hides her charms, pours its sparkling flood of pearls, 
dancing, leaping, and sporting in fantastic glee, and bath- 
ing the stern and precipitous cliffs in its cooling mists 
of nine hundred feet descent. This beautiful fall, burst- 
ing from the summit, light and gauzy in its volume, 
spreads its glistening spray in a sheet of thin vapor, 
which, met by the eddying zephyrs that float about, 
catch up its fleecy folds, looping, tossing, and whirling 
them about in spasms of sublime coquetry, ever chang- 
ing the fascinating scene in the hazy and translucent 
mists, where the mysterious crimson and gold of the 
ever-changing rainbows, dancing and floating, blend, 
dissolve, and disappear like the shadow of a vision. 
The dallyings and coquetry of these new-born myste- 
ries, as in couplets and triplets they lock arms and seem 
to waltz into their dissolving eternity, shaking from 
their azure pinions the silvery mists of the clouds, form 



2 20 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the loveliest combination of terrestrial and celestial 
phenomena ever beheld by man. 

The view from the summit of the grand bastions and 
peaks of this fascinating spot, looking from their aerial 
heights upon the frolicking torrents, leaping and laugh- 
ing in their mountain glee, and watching the sudden 
meanderings in the vale below, where stately pines of 
two hundred feet look like garden shrubs, is at once 
grand, picturesque, and romantic, outrivalling any scene 
of natural beauty yet discovered on the globe, lending 
new inspiration to the beholder, and opening new fields 
of meditation for the painter and the poet — a scene 
where the careworn combatant in the fickle struggle of 
life can look from his heated and disordered plain upon 
the majesty of Jehovah's mightiest cathedral, whose 
silver-tongued organs, from creation to eternity, peal 
forth their choral strains proclaiming the omnipotence 
of the Creator. 

So sacred is the Yosemite valley held by the people 
of California that, in order to preserve its primitive 
beauty and spare its forests from invading ax-men, they 
procured an act of Congress donating this lovely spot 
to the State, in trust for the people. 

EARTHQUAKES. 

Since the days of the first mutterings of Stromboli, 
(Lipari isles,) whose continuous fires have not been 
quenched for more than two thousand years, up to the 
desolating ravages of Vesuvius and Etna, the uplifting 
of Jorullo, and the angry lips of Cotopaxi spit forth its 
molten masses of more than one hundred tons a dis- 
tance of nine miles, the human family have held the 
strange phenomenon of earthquakes as fearful visita- 



EAR THQ UAKES. 221 

tions of God's wrath ; but science, which has enabled 
man to measure the heavenly constellations, harness 
steam, chain the lightning and encircle the globe in its 
electric bands, has fully demonstrated the volcanic origin 
of this element of force and terror. All parts of the 
globe have be^n at some time visited by earthquakes 
and volcanic eruptions; and those portions of the sphere 
where the interior fires have most to feed upon, and 
where they reach their fiery tongues nighest the surface, 
sometimes break forth in volcanic eruptions ; or the 
great furnaces below, receiving of a sudden great floods 
of water from the fissures of the earth, gorges, and 
streams of the mountains, or from the ocean itself, 
generate such immense bodies of steam and gases that 
these elements, in seeking an escape, rush furiously 
through the chasms below, causing mother earth to 
cough, shake her sides, and wriggle her back, much to 
the terror of her occupants. 

Europe, South and Central America, and Mexico 
have been the theatres of fearful eruptions and shocks 
of earthquakes. In many parts of the United States 
shocks of great severity have been felt. Philadelphia 
and Boston, in the seventeenth century, found their 
chimney-tops rattling about the heads of their pious 
Quakers and sedate Puritans. 

The severest earthquake ever felt in the United 
States was at New Madrid, Missouri, which commenced 
at two o'clock of the morning of December i6, 1811. 
Twenty-eight shocks occurred on this day, uprooting 
trees, opening large fissures in the earth, shaking down 
chimneys, and doing much damage. From this period 
to the 8th of February following, the earth was con- 
stantly agitated. On this day the shocks were most 



222 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

severe: houses were levelled, tfees rent in pieces, por- 
tions of the land sunk, forming lakes; and a large island 
in the Mississippi, covered with immense forests, sank 
beneath the waters, and the course of the Mississippi 
was turned back for more than an hour; jets of electric 
fire, mud, and soot issued from the earth, which was in 
commotion for several months; yet it is not certain that 
a single life was lost. 

There is no account of any earthquake ever having 
occurred in California of any such violent character, 
until the Inyo earthquake of 1872: indeed, compared 
with the earthquakes of other times and countries, 
California's earthquakes are but gentle oscillations, 
reminding us of the herculean spasm of nature that 
jerked the Sierras from the bowels of the earth, and 
tossed the Himalayas and Andes into the air. Through- 
out the length of the State, especially within a space 
of sixty miles of the coast, occasional tremors and light 
earthquake-shocks are felt; sometimes these shocks are 
sharp and decisive, but, so far, have not been destruc- 
tive to any extent. History does not tell us of any earth- 
quakes in California from its earliest settlement up to 
1800. In October of this year, some adobe buildings 
were cracked at the village of San Juan Bautista. This 
is the first earthquake mentioned in the mission records 
of the country. The next account is found in the records 
of the Presidio of San Francisco, showing that twenty- 
one shocks had occurred from the 21st of June to the 
17th of July, 1808. From this period to 181 2 there is 
no mention of earthquakes. In September of that year, 
a very severe earthquake shook the lower portion of 
the State with great violence, almost totally destroying 
the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, in Los Angeles 



EARTHQUAKES. 223 

county, and the Mission of Prurissima, in Santa Barbara 
county ; also the church at San Inez. Thirty persons 
are supposed to have been killed by this shock: this 
is the first account of loss of life in California by earth- 
quakes. In 1818, a mission church at Santa Clara was 
thrown down; and at San Francisco, on May 15, 1851, 
o^lass windows were broken, goods in the stores mis- 
placed and shaken down, and ships in the bay rocked 
and tumbled about by a very severe shock. At San 
Jose, in November, 1858, a severe shock cracked most of 
the brick buildings of the town. A portion of Alameda 
county was severely shaken on July 3, 1861. About noon 
on Sunday, October 8, 1865, a very severe shock was 
felt at San Francisco, and many buildings were shaken 
so as to cause them to be cracked. The vibrations 
seemed to be from north to south ; along the western 
side of Montgomery street, for several blocks, the glass 
windows were shivered to atoms, and on the west side 
of Third street, for two blocks, and in many other parts 
of the city, the glass was broken and literally ground to 
powder. Great consternation was caused among the 
worshippers in the churches, (it being Sunday ;) many 
fainted and were much alarmed. 

Since the occupation of the country by the Ameri- 
cans, in 1 846, there has not a year passed without one 
or more shocks being felt in the State; sometimes con- 
fined to small sections of the country, at others extend- 
ing over a vast area. It often occurs that the shocks 
felt at San Francisco are not felt at Stockton, Sacra- 
mento, or Marysville. The severest earthquake since 
the occupation of the country, up to 1872, was experi- 
enced on the 2 1 St of October, 1868, about eight o'clock 
in the morning. It was felt most severely in the vicinity 



224 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

of San Francisco and in Alameda county, causing con- 
siderable damage and much alarm. It commenced by 
gentle oscillations, increasing in violence, when, with a 
fearful tremor, it tossed and swayed the buildings until 
they toppled and almost fell, causing great terror, and 
filling the streets with the inhabitants, many of whom 
abandoned their dwellings, sought refuge upon the 
vacant lots and public parks, where they erected tents, 
and for several days refused to be comforted or return to 
their homes. Many brick buildings were cracked, others 
partly sank, and some in course of erection were thrown 
down ; while not a building in the city which was sub- 
stantially built or upon good solid foundations, although 
there were many brick houses of four and five stories 
in the city, received any damage. Several shaky, rick- 
ety walls and hanging cornices of brick and mud (for 
the mortar used in San Francisco is the poorest in the 
world) were thrown down or much damaged, and win- 
dows were pretty generally broken. Three persons 
were killed, all by the falling of defective cornices or 
walls. The court-house at San Leandro, Alameda 
county, was thrown down, and one man killed. Many 
other buildings around the Bay of San Francisco were 
destroyed, and in some sections not a brick chimney 
could be seen standino-. Added to the terror of the 
people was a dull, sickening sensation, like sea-sickness, 
causing some great distress. Some persons who had 
arrived shortly before this from the Atlantic States, and 
others who had been in California for many years, left 
the State, intending never to return. It seems singular 
that these people should leave a country where, for 
more than half a century, not a half-dozen people have 
been killed by any natural phenomena, while in the 



EAR THQ UAKES. 225 

New Eng-land States, Middle States, and in the valley 
of the Mississippi, hundreds are killed annually by sun- 
stroke, lightning, frost, and hurricanes, which yearly 
destroy millions of dollars worth of property. 

California is entirely exempt from accident by sun- 
stroke, lightning, hurricanes, and frosts. There Is 
scarcely a State in the Union, east of the Rocky moun- 
tains, which does not in a single year lose more human 
lives by some of the above-mentioned phenomena than 
has been lost by earthquakes in California within the 
memory of man up to the year 1872. 

The severest earthquake ever known in California, 
far surpassing in violence, duration, and destruction of 
life any disturbance of this nature west of Mexico, in 
America, occurred in the southeastern section of the 
State, in the county of Inyo, on the 26th of March, 1872, 
completely levelling the houses in the vicinity and caus- 
ing great panic and loss of life. The location of this 
eruption is in '^']'^ north latitude and 118° longitude 
west from Greenwich, one hundred and eighty miles 
due east from the Bay of Monterey, and two hundred 
and thirty miles due southeast from the city of San 
Francisco. Inyo county lies entirely east *f the Sierra 
Nevada mountains. (This county and Mono adjoining 
on the north are the only counties in the State east of 
this range.) In the Sierras forming the western line 
of the county, close to the scene of this commotion, 
stand the loftiest mountains in the State — Tyndall and 
Whitney standing respectively fourteen and fifteen 
thousand feet above the sea. Abundant evidences of 
former eruptions and the volcanic nature of this section 
are seen on every side : alkaline deserts, dry lakes, hot 

and sulphurous springs, and to the south Death valley 
15 



2 26 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and the mud volcanoes, hot, salt, alkaline, and bitter 
springs and extinct craters of San Bernardino county, 
Owens lake, (see Lakes.) The Coso, Inyo, and White 
mountains, with valuable mines of gold and silver, pass 
through this county. In the vicinity of the disturbances 
are rich agricultural valleys and pasture ranges, but, 
owing to the remoteness of the county from railroads 
and navigation, but little permanent settlement has yet 
been made. The entire population of the county is but 
1,956, engaged chiefly in quartz-mining, grazing, and 
agriculture, A large number of the population are 
native Californians of Mexican extraction, and the vil- 
lages are built chiefly of adobe or sun-dried bricks, as 
are most of the Spanish and Mexican towns of America. 
Earthquakes make fearful havoc among such houses, 
shaking them into heaps of loose sand, while frame or 
solid brick buildings are little affected, unless by severe 
shocks. 

At two and a-half o'clock on the morning of March 
26, the Inhabitants of the district were awakened by 
loud explosions as of heavy artillery, followed in an in- 
stant by a terrible upheaval and rocking of the earth 
from south vb north. At the little town of Lone Pine, 
as if in a twinkling, the whole place (containing about 
five hundred inhabitants) was destroyed, not a building 
left standing, and the frenzied inhabitants buried in the' 
ruins — some in death; others rending the night air with 
their agony and lamentations; parents and children, 
wives and husbands, separated, some dead, others in 
intense pain crying to be relieved from their imprison- 
ment in the ruins of their fallen homes; others in the 
■wildest delirium, rocked, pitched, and tossed in the 
darkness of night among the dead and dying, while the 



EARTHQUAKES. 22/ 

hissinor, roarinof, and rumblinqf of volcanic heat and steam 
below, and tumbling mountain-tops above swaying their 
heads to and fro, and shaking from their sides vast 
bodies of rocks, rendered the scene appalling in its 
intense fury. From two and a-half o'clock, the time 
of the first shock, until sunrise over three hundred 
distinct shocks were felt, and more than one thousand 
distinct shocks within three days, and seven thousand 
shocks to April 4. The earth during this period was 
not still a moment, shaking, trembling, and quaking, 
indicating the immense forces at work below. At 
Tibbet's ranche, fifteen miles from the town of Inde- 
pendence, about forty acres of ground sunk about 
seven feet below the surface of the country; Owens 
lake rose four feet, and Owens and Kern rivers turned 
back for several miles, and ran over their banks, de- 
positing shoals offish on the shores; and vast, yawning 
fissures and chasms opened their jaws, in some instances 
swallowing the dead and dying, and stretching for miles 
across the country their sepulchral depths, from which 
came the sulphurous and fiery breath of the unbridled 
and unwelcome monster whose voice is the terror of 
our race. 

Lone Pine, which seems to have been the centre point 
of the shock, had twenty-seven persons killed and a large 
number wounded; and fifty-two buildings (three-fourths 
of the whole town) were destroyed. At Corro Gordo, 
Swansa, and Independence buildings were shaken down 
and a few persons killed and some wounded. Thirty- 
four persons in all were killed by the earthquake of Inyo 
county, and about one hundred wounded. The desti- 
tution of the people being relieved by donations from 
other sections of the State, they buried their dead, re- 



2 28 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

built their homes, entered their mines and fields, and 
pursue their avocations on the scenes of one of the 
most appalling natural phenomena ever known in the 
limits of the republic of America. 

The extent of the Lone Pine earthquake was along the 
whole line of California, being felt in every town from 
the Oregon line to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the 
southern slope of the Sierras to the waters of the Pacific, 
extending seven to eieht hundred miles north and 
south and three hundred miles from east to west. 

The Sierra Nevada in the recrion described breaks 
down southerly into a number of detached parallel 
ranges, and in San Bernardino and San Diego counties 
loses altogether its distinctive character as a great 
mountain chain. The region abounds with evidences 
of comparatively recent volcanic action. Alkali lakes, 
like Owens lake — a body of salt and alkaline water 
twenty-two miles in length and eight in width — solfa- 
taras, hot springs, and mud volcanoes, point unmistaka- 
bly to the fact that the tremendous forces which once 
were In active operation all along the Sierra are here 
still asserting themselves with lessened but still threat- 
ening energy. The noted depression of Death's valley, 
not far southeast from Owens lake, with its area of 
forty miles in length and ten miles in width, a great 
portion of which is one hundred and fifty feet below the 
level of the sea, while the surrounding mountains are 
not less than five thousand feet above it, is a locality 
plainly evidencing volcanic action. Still further south, 
in San Bernardino county, north of the trail leading 
from Fort Mojave via the sink of the Mojave, the 
Mojave desert and river, to Los Angeles, there are 
numerous volcanic craters, rising to heights of fifty to 



EAR THQ UAKES. 229 

two hundred feet above the desolate plain, still as per- 
fect as when their fires went out. A lava flow covers 
the earth for many miles, stretching like a great frozen 
river through the desert in this vicinity. 

The volcanic belt^extends to the borders of the Col- 
orado desert, where hot mineral springs, volcanic ashes 
in vast beds, lava, pumice-stone, and odier evidences 
of comparatively recent volcanic disturbance, are found 
in abundance. It is even supposed that the "Dry 
Lake," or great salt plain of the Colorado desert, was 
the bed of the sea at no very distant date, and that its 
present condition is the result of volcanic action, the 
ancient water-line, still distincdy marked by sedimentary 
discoloration, extending along the side of the San Gor- 
gonio mountain, south of San Gorgonio pass, for some 
fifty miles. At Dos Palmas, a water station on the 
northeastern side of the Colorado desert, on the trail 
from San Bernardino via San Gorgonio pass to Lapaz, 
on the Colorado river, In May, 1868, a severe earth- 
quake — which was not felt in northern and central 
California — opened a long fissure in the earth, from 
which a stream of cold water flowed for some weeks. 
This fissure is but a short distance from the great hot 
spring of Dos Palmas, which is still flowing, but is said 
to have grown very much cooler since that event. At 
Fort Tejon, in the southeastern part of Kern county, 
several years ago, the earth was rent into a chasm. In 
the late convulsion the ground heaved and vibrated, 
and then, as the awful sound died in its far-off echoes, 
those who had escaped from their crumbling dwellings 
aghast and almost speechless with terror hoped the 
catastrophe was over. But almost instantly, away to 



230 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the south, down the narrow valley towards Lone Pine, 
was heard a sharp and thundering explosion as of a 
thousand columbiads fired at once. The people braced 
themselves for the shock; nearer and nearer came the 
appalling noise, and, as the shock advanced, thousands 
upon thousands of huge rocks tumbled from the crags 
on either hand and crashed with deafening din into the 
ravines and upon the edges of the valley below. Then 
came the noise under their feet, and with it the awful, 
sickening, and terrifying uplift and swing of the earth. 
The people ran to and fro ; some screamed, some 
prayed; others stood still and watched the course of 
things with stoical indifference. They soon learned 
that but one or two persons had been killed there, and 
yet none knew what the end might be, for the earth 
vibrated constandy. At short intervals would be heard 
away off in the direction of Lone Pine and the lake 
that terrible boom! bang! as if the very mountains 
themselves were splitting in twain. Not only did tens 
of thousands of rocks and boulders, rolling down the 
mountains, add to the confusion of the scene, but in 
the Sierras, on one side of the valley, avalanche after 
avalanche of snow was sent thundering, booming, 
almost screaming, down from the regions of eternal 
frost and ice to the pfulfs below. 

People living near Independence, at points where 
they could see plainly the sides of the mountains on 
either hand, at every succeeding shock could plainly 
see, in a hundred places at once, bursdng from the 
rifted rocks, great sheets of flame, apparendy thirty or 
fifty feet in length, and which would coil and lap about 
a moment and then disappear. These flames could not 



EAR THQ UAKES. 2 3 I 

have been caused by friction of rocks and boulders 
cominor down die mountains. 

When daylight came, the entire valley south of Inde- 
pendence and toward Lone Pine was filled with smoke 
and dust, and in places, people said, the fumes of sul- 
phur were almost suffocating. The clouds of smoke 
extended from Fish Springs south, as far as the eye 
could reach. 

Numerous springs were dried up instantly and others 
broke out in other places, while the flow of water from 
all was greatly increased. In one little stream, three 
or four inches deep, the water was thrown upward to 
the heiofht of two or three feet over foot-bridees ; 
springs of water were forced out of the mountains 
where before the rocks had been as dry as a powder 
house. The valley was literally torn in pieces. In 
every direction there were fissures, which, however, 
filled in again by the loose soil. Some, however, were 
long and deep. At one place a large section of the 
valley had subsided about ten feet, leaving an abrupt, 
perpendicular bank at the sides. In many places the 
ground was thrown into ridges and mounds, five or six 
feet high, and in every direction were signs of the 
destructive agencies that had been at work, all, how- 
ever, decreasing in number and extent as they travelled 
north. Cattle and horses were thrown prostrate during 
the heavier shocks, and their bellowing and neighing 
were pitiful to hear. At Fish Springs and other places 
the atmosphere was strongly impregnated with sulphur. 
For seventy-five miles north of Independence not an 
adobe or brick house was left standing. The Indians 
were terrified and commenced leaving the country, 



232 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



fearing the recurrence of a general convulsion of 
nature, which, according to their traditions, occurred 
in that region some hundreds of years ago, and created 
what is known as Owens River valley, but which was 
before a chain of mountains. 

The great air-valves of Mount Hood, Oregon, the 
Mauna Loa, Sandwich islands, and Vesuvius, in Italy, 
simultaneously with the Inyo disturbances, gave forth 
tokens of activity ; and the latter, drawing its fiery 
breath beneath mountain and sea, acting as a safety- 
valve to the troubled Sierras, lights with sheeted flame 
Italian skies, while trembling Naples and Campania, 
and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, attest its majes- 
tic grandeur and appalling power. Almost simultane- 
ously with the Inyo earthquake, Vesuvius poured forth 
volumes of smoke, ashes, and fire, and floods of liquid 
lava poured down its sides and far into the country, 
destroying life and property, and driving the terrified 
inhabitants from their homes. At Naples, twelve miles 
distant, so thick did the ashes fall that the people had 
to carry umbrellas to shield themselves ; and these 
emissions and fiery terrors continued throughout the 
greater part of the month of April, 1872. 

The Inyo earthquake of 1872, although severe and 
destructive, is but tame when compared with the con- 
vulsions in many parts of Europe. The destruction 
of Herculaneum and Pompeii, in the year 63, and their 
final burial by volcanic floods of fire and ashes in the 
year 79, are among the most striking of recorded 
natural destructive commotions. In the year 115, 
while the Emperor Trajan was in the city of Antioch, 
in Syria, it was almost totally destroyed; again, in 458, 



EARTHQUAKES. 2^3 

it was visited by a severe earthquake; and in 526 
occurred the most disastrous earthquake on record: 
while the Festival of the Ascension swelled the city to 
overflow came the fearful eruptions, in which two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand persons were swallowed up. In 
centuries past 'the feverish pulsations of the earth 
visited almost every portion of the globe, rocking the 
proud Roman empire as if it were a cockle-shell. 

The great earthquake in Chili, in 1822, raised one 
hundred thousand square miles of country from two to 
seven feet above its former level. In the year 1692, 
in the island of Jamaica, the city of Port Royal, the 
capital, was carried down beneath the surface of the 
water ; more than one thousand acres sunk in one 
minute, the sea rolling the ships in the harbor over the 
tops of the houses. On a more gigantic and destruc- 
tive scale was the one on the island of Java, in 1772, 
when the lofty volcano Papandayang was in action, and- 
an area, including the mountain, of six miles broad and 
fifteen miles long sunk, carrying down forty villages 
and 2,957 inhabitants. 

In the great eai:thquake of Lisbon, of November i, 
1755, a deep, rumbling, hollow sound preceded the 
terrible shock, which in six minutes destroyed the 
principal portion of the city, carrying down sixty thou- 
sand people. The sea receded, leaving the bar dry, 
and returning in a great wave fifty feet high, while the 
adjacent mountains trembled and were flung into the 
valleys. The frightened inhabitants, who had sought 
refuge upon the elegant marble quay, just completed 
at great cost, suddenly found themselves as if upon a 
foundering ship: quay and all, with the surrounding 



234 ^-^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

boats and shipping, all plunged into eternity. Not one 
of the one thousand human beings thus engulfed, nor a 
sign of boat or vessel of the fleets swallowed up, ever 
reappeared above the surface ; but over the spot still 
stands the waters, six hundred feet deep, leaving no trace 
of the life, bustle, and wealth of this doomed and desolate 
region. The shock that thus caused such devastation 
shook an area four times as great as all of Europe. It 
was felt at once in the Alps and along the coast of 
Sweden. The thermal springs of Toplitz, Germany, 
for a time disappeared. Loch Lomond and other lakes 
in Scotland rose and fell by the agitation. Along the 
shores of Barbadoes, Antigua, and Martinique the tide 
rose suddenly more than twenty feet, and the sea was 
of inky blackness. The waters of Lake Ontario were 
agitated ; and on the shores of Massachusetts the sea 
roared and was fearfully agitated, water-spouts burst 
forth, and springs which still run were opened. Chim- 
neys in Boston were thrown down, and houses dis- 
jointed and cracked. 

Naples, in December, 1857, was threatened with total 
destruction by violent shakes ; while Mount Vesuvius 
continued to emit clouds of smoke accompanied with 
loud reports like the roar of cannon. At this time the 
destruction in the surrounding provinces was terrible. 
Potenza, the capital of Basillcata, was left without a 
single house inhabited, Marsico Nuovo, Tito, Lauren- 
zana, Polla, and other places were reduced to ruins : 
from twenty-five to forty thousand lives were lost, it is 
estimated. 

On the 19th of June, 1858, an earthquake of great 
severity visited Mexico, destroying many houses in the 



EARTHQUAKES. 235 

capital and the aqueduct supplying the city with water, 
and levelling churches and buildings throughout many 
parts of the country. On the 22d of March, 1859, the 
city of Quito, in Ecuador, was almost entirely destroyed 
by an earthquake : several thousand persons perished. 
Throughout the greater part of Africa and in the 
region of Greenland no record is made of any earth- 
quakes having occurred. In the Atlantic ocean, midway 
between Guinea and Brazil, near the equator, eruptions 
are almost constantly occurring, passing ships experi- 
encing their effects and also observing the variations in 
soundings and the great irregularity of the bottom of 
the sea. That this is the seat of active volcanoes cannot 
be doubted. 



236 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Zoology — Relics of antiquity — Animals — Birds — Fishes — Cull and 
bear fights — Reptiles — Bees — Horned toad — Whales. 

California in her zoological department exhibits 
many interesting and entirely new specimens of beasts, 
birds, and fishes, many of which are of great size, beauty, 
and value, either on account of their meat or fur; and 
to the sportsman they present a field of great attraction. 

The discovery of the bones of immense animals at a 
great depth in the earth, and of a size larger than any 
specimens now known upon the continent, assures us 
that, at some remote period, animals of enormous size 
and of a species unknown to the present age roamed 
the hills and valleys of California. 

The bones of Indians, Indian arrows, and stone mor- 
tars have also been found at a great depth in the earth, 
showing that man existed in the country before the 
great convulsion of nature which pushed up the Sierras 
and elevated the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys 
above their ancient levels. 

ANIMALS. 

The grizzly bear and elk are the two largest animals 
of California. The grizzly is confined to the regions 
west of the Rocky mountains, and is to be found 
throughout the Sierras, foot-hills, and Coast Range. 
In early days, these bears were very numerous, but are 
now comparatively scarce and seldom molest man ; 
although there have been many desperate fights between 
the grizzly and hunters. Their great size, strenc^th. 



BULL AND BEAR FIGHTS 23/ 

and vicious nature render diem a most formidable 
enemy. Many of them are still to be found in the 
Coast Ranee within a few hours travel of San Fran- 
cisco, and generally throughout the timber portion of 
the State. Their chief diet is berries and herbs. 

The black bear, a smaller animal, inhabits the Sierras 
and the northern part of Oregon. There are also the 
cinnamon bear and brown bear in the mountains, but 
none of these are so destructive or vicious as the black 
bear of Canada and the other British provinces; indeed, 
none of them will attack man unless pressed to the 
combat. But the grizzly is combative and destructive, 
if wounded or brought to bay by his pursuers. The 
weight of the grizzly is from eight hundred to sixteen 
hundred pounds ; and some, more than seven feet in 
length and over two thousand pounds in weight, have 
been killed in the State : these are giants in strength 
and appearance, far surpassing the lion and tiger. 

It was between these monsters and the fierce Spanish 
bull that the desperate struggles formerly took place, 
when a dollar a head was willingly paid to see the bull 
and bear fight in California. These savage sports are 
rare now but to the lover of brute force they will 
always form a spectacle of deep interest. The puny 
efforts of cocks, dogs, and men are tame and insipid 
compared with the fierce struggle of the bull-pit as seen 
in California. The pit was circular, formed upon the 
ground by many posts planted in the earth from eight 
to ten feet in height, with seats around like the amphi- 
theatres of the Romans. In this pit the grizzly was 
placed : the bull, after having his nose scarred so that 
the blood would trickle into his mouth and nostrils, by 
tasting and smelling which he would become desperate 



238 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and roar furiously, was ushered into the presence of 
his mortal enemy. The sight and smell of each was 
the signal for the other to prepare for battle: the 
grizzly, with measured step and yawning jaws, coursing 
the circuit of the pit, would await the assault of his nim- 
ble assailant; the bull, with spine as straight as an 
arrow, horns like lances, and an eye of blood, would 
nervously survey his antagonist, bellowing deep moans 
from his bloody lips, and with a leap, such as a Spanish 
bull only can make, quick as a flash, fierce and terrible, 
plunge his straight sharp horns into the shaggy coat of 
the grizzly, from which they would bound as if bruin 
were a solid ball of rubber. After a few thrusts and 
passes from the bull, and a few scratches or heavy 
blows from the paws of the bear, the mountain and 
valley monarchs with the fury of desperation bound at 
and grapple with each other ; bruin, dodging the fierce 
thrusts of the bull's horns, rolls upon his back, embraces 
the head and neck of his antagonist in his powerful 
arms, and, plying his throat and breast with his hind 
claws, holds the poor bull in such terrible embrace that 
the wildest and most desperate plunges are unable to 
release him from his destroyer. In this struggle the 
bull generally has his throat and breast torn open, or 
his neck broken in bruin's hug; but sometimes a fortu- 
nate thrust of the bull's horns upon bruin at an un- 
guarded moment may, like a bayonet, pierce his side ; 
in either case, the fight is not regarded a success unless 
one or both are killed, which is generally accomplished 
amidst a din of roaring, ei'owlinof, and frothinof of the 
expiring combatants, and the wild plaudits of the spec- 
tators, making the closing scene of these fearful com- 
bats the most herculean spectacles of animated nature 



ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES. 239 

The hide of the grizzly is of little value, and his meat 
is so coarse that it is little souo^ht after. Both the hides 
and flesh of the other bears in California are valuable. 

Lion. — The cougar, sometimes called the panther, or 
California lion, is found in most of the wooded districts 
of the State. It is larg-er than the largest doe; mottled 
with dark stripes, and sly, cunning, and restless; pounces 
upon its prey from a tree-top or hiding place, is cowardly, 
and seldom attacks man. 

The jaguar or American tiger, also the wild cat and 
mountain cat, wolf, several species of foxes, and the 
cayote, are found in the mountains and hill-sides of the 
State. All the species of foxes are small, and therefore 
inferior to the Canadian fox. The badger, raccoon, 
glutton, skunk, weasel, fisher, sable, mink, land and sea 
otter, beaver, squirrels in great abundance and variety, 
seals and sea-lions, are also found either in the rivers 
or bays of the coast of California, and northward in the 
waters of the Pacific coast. No species of land or water 
fur-bearing animals produce such valuable fur as their 
species do In the more northern regions. Fine furs and 
good fish are found only in cold climates, if we except 
the salmon of California. 

Of seals there are many varieties : the small, spotted 
ssal, the fur seal, and the sea-lion — the latter a species 
inhabiting the rocky cliffs and small islands of the 
Pacific ocean. A species of this seal or sea-lion inhabits 
the clump of rocks directly south of the Golden Gate, 
in front of the Cliff House, affording much amusement 
to visitors by their howling and floundering about upon 
the rocks. Some of these animals are of immense size, 
larger than an ox. They are at this place protected 



240 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

from the sportsmen by State law. Immense numbers 
of sea-lions of a very large species inhabit the Faral- 
lones, a clump of islands of rock directly west of the 
Golden Gate. Along the lower coast of the State 
several parties are employed killing seal and sea-lion, 
and trying oil from them. The larger species at the 
Farallones are not very valuable for oil or for their 
pelts. The fur seal increases in numbers northward 
along the Pacific coast ; it is unknown in the vicinity of 
San Francisco, but is occasionally found in waters along 
the Oregon coast, and in myriads in Alaska: the fur is 
very valuable. 

The large gray squirrel and gopher seem to have 
complete possession of the whole country. They both 
burrow in the ground, which seems to be alive with 
them, for at every step the traveller is confronted with 
heads popping up and down in rapid succession, with 
innumerable pairs of little round eyes staring him in 
the face. During the dry season the valleys and hill- 
sides are completely honeycombed with these nimble 
pests, which destroy hundreds of thousands of bushels 
of wheat and barley annually. The large gray squirrel 
is very handsome, is almost as large as a cat, with a 
large, bushy tail, and is good eating. Hare, rabbits, 
rats, and mice are abundant and in great variety. 

Elk and Deer. — The California elk is the same as 
the Canadian moose, only the former is much larger, 
with large, branching horns like those of the deer. At 
one period elk were very numerous, but are now found 
only in the northern part of the State and in the moun- 
tain ranges ; they are very plentiful in Oregon. Deer 
are still numerous, and seem to abound all over the 



ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES. 2\\ 

State. There are several varieties : the mule-deer, 
black-tail, antelope, and white-tail. 

In many parts of the Sierras is found the mountain- 
sheep. It is double the size of the domestic sheep ; 
the body is covered with a coarse hair; the horns are 
enormous, heavy and curling. It is said that when 
pursued, it will leap down the terrible precipitous walls 
of the Sierras, landing upon its head and horns below ; 
and thus, bounding from cliff to cliff, escape its pursuer. 
It is very shy, and rarely captured. 

BIRDS. 

The "American eagle" is not only found in every 
Fourth of July oration all over the coast, but in his. 
original grandeur among the crags and waterfalls of 
the Sierras and Coast Range. Geese, swan, and ducks- 
are plentiful in spring and fall. Swan are not so plen- 
tiful as ducks and geese; they are very numerous, 
however, in Oregon. Geese are so abundant in many 
parts of California and Oregon that they destroy vast 
fields of growing grain, and hundreds of them are killed 
by the farmers and hunters by sticking sharp-pointed 
stakes in the grain-fields: the geese descending at 
night cannot see these sharp perpendicular poles, and 
in their descent strike upon them and are pierced and 
killed. 

Quail. — This beautiful bird, a species of the grouse 
but only half its size, is found in great quantities all 
over the State ; every clump of bushes, wheat-field and 
vineyard is inhabited by them. They are plump, sweet 
and pleasant to the taste, and are a staple article of 
food. They are protected by law from the sportsman 

i6 



242 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

during- the spring and summer months. A species of 
grouse is found in the northern part of the State, and 
the prairie-hen in the extreme northeastern portion. 

The pigeon and dove are plentiful throughout Cali^ 
fornia. The gull, robin, sparrow, swallow, blackbird, 
and the familiar crow are all well represented in JCali- 
fornia ; and the sand-hill crane bathes his shrunk shanks 
as deliberately in the waters of the Pacific as does his 
eastern brother in the waters off Cape Cod or in those 
of the Chesapeake. Woodpeckers, snake-killer, cuckoo, 
fish-hawk, chicken-hawk, bat, owl, buzzard, vulture, 
raven, jay, magpie; king-fisher, humming-bird, tanager, 
tittark, chat, bluebird, thrush, wren, oriole, lark, linnet, 
grosbeak, bittern, heron, plover, snipe, curlew, rail, brant, 
pelican, petrel, or "Mother Carey's chickens," albatross, 
cormorant, loon, murre, and a great number and variety 
of water, land, and singing birds, make up the rare and 
large variety of birds inhabiting California, numbering 
more than three hundred and fifty distinct species. 

REPTILES. 

There are fewer reptiles in California than in any of 
the Atlantic States ; the long, dry summers are not 
congenial to their species. The reptiles of California 
are entirely different from those of any other part of 
the world, and are generally smaller than those of the 
Eastern States. Snakes are rare ; the rattlesnake is 
the only poisonous one known, and is very scarce. In 
some portions of the State the scorpion is found, but is 
very rare. 

One of the most poisonous and dread reptiles is the 
tarantula ; amputation of the limb often being necessary, 
after the bite of this loathsome creature. It is of die 



POISONOUS AND OTHER REPTILES. 243 

spider species, sometimes growing to the size of a frog ; 
the body is covered with a thin brown hair, and its spin- 
dling legs project three to four inches from each side. 
It lives in a little house made in the side-hills or in rocks, 
and constructed with great skill ; a door to its home, 
which hangs upon a hinge from above, fitting so closely 
that it can scarcely be detected ; there are little holes 
through this door, into which it inserts its claws to open 
the door, or holds it inside if attacked, and keeps it 
secure. It has a mortal enemy in a species of large 
wasp. This wasp, strange to say, makes the body of 
the living tarantula the place- of deposit for its eggs. 
The tarantula is in great dread of these wasps, and flees 
from them, locking itself in its secure home if it reaches 
it, before it is pierced by the planter of the female wasp. 
The eggs of the wasp being ready to deposit, the female 
sails abroad in search of a tarantula ; at sight she vigor- 
ously attacks it, thrusting her eggs into its body ; if the 
tarantula is not killed at once, it only finds its home 
with the seeds of death in it, for the eggs of the wasp 
soon hatch little ones, which remain in the flesh of the 
unfortunate animal, upon which they feed until death 
relieves it of its terrible consumers. The tarantula 
seldom bites man, is shy, and will escape upon the 
approach of any noise or the presence of a human 
being. 

There are great numbers and varieties of lizards in 
California, varying from one and two inches to a foot 
in length. The larger species are found in the southern 
part of the State; none of them are poisonous or vicious. 
Frogs and toads are plentiful throughout the State. 
The "horned toad" inhabits the southern part of the 
State, and is the most unsightly thing on the earth ; it 



244 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

often grows to a length of seven or eight inches, about 
three inches in breadth, and seems to be of the hzard 
species ; two horns, from about an inch to one and 
a-half inches in length, grow directly where the horns 
grow upon a cow ; it has a tail of half the length of the 
body : the whole body, legs, belly, and tail to its very 
tip, is covered with thorny scales, ending in sharp, 
diamond-pointed horns. The appearance of this little 
animal is not calculated to make it many friends or 
admirers, yet it is perfectly harmless. 

Bees. — The native bees of California are very numer- 
ous in the southern part of the State, living in hollow 
trees where they deposit great quantities of honey. 
The domestic bee thrives all through the State and in 
Oregon, making honey from the fir trees and flowers 
of the country. 

Wasps, mosquitos, and flies are plentiful, and Cali- 
fornia may not only be called the land of gold but also 
the land of the flea : here this pest of the human race 
attains a size, agility, and perseverance worthy of a 
better cause than that of its occupation. Grasshoppers 
are numerous, but generally not destructive; occasion- 
ally myriads of them in some seasons will pass over a 
section of country, completely destroying every thing 
green, blocking up roads, filling wells, springs, and 
houses, from which they drive the inhabitants. On 
the plains, they so swarm on the railroads that they 
stop the trains, their bruised bodies so greasing the 
rails that sand has to be used to counteract their effect. 

FISH. 

California Is well supplied with a great variety of fish, 
from the sperm-whale to the shrimp. There are over 



FISHES OF THE PACIFIC. 245 

two hundred varieties of fish in the ocean, bays, rivers, 
and lakes of the State, many of them entirely unknown 
elsewhere. Shell-fish are abundant, and the variety 
very great. Oysters are scarce and small, mussels and 
clams plenty. Crabs are of great size, some species 
being more than a foot in width, and are an article of 
common table food. The "mother-of-pearl oyster" is 
found in the bays on the lower coast and in the Gulf of 
Mexico. The squid grows to a great size on the coast, 
some being more than three feet in length, with arms in 
some cases over seven feet long. Shrimp, the counter- 
part of a young lobster, swarm in myriads in the bays; 
they are about the size of an overgrown grasshopper; 
they have a thin, tough shell like a lobster;, in the res- 
taurants and hotels they are a common article of food, 
and are much liked by many. Lobsters are plentiful, 
and grow to a great size, in some instances measuring 
a foot and a-half in length: strange to say, none of them 
have the large claws of the Atlantic lobster. 

Whale. — The Pacific ocean, from Behring's strait 
southward to the coast of California, is the great whale- 
ground of the world. Fleets of vessels are yearly en- 
gaged in the whale fishery, making Honolulu their head- 
quarters. Few whales are caught upon the coast of 
California, although hundreds of them can be seen blow- 
ing and spouting along the entire coast, from Panama 
to the Columbia river; occasionally one of these mon- 
sters of the deep finds himself inside the Golden Gate, 
where his dashing about like a goldfish in a globe and 
his spouting attracts the boatmen, who give him lively 
chase. At other times a "northwester" dashes one 



246 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Upon the beach, where he lies stranded hke some "gal- 
lant ship;" upon such occasions, "whale" is in the mouth 
of everybody. The fortunate finder of a stranded 
whale generally "locates" a "claim" upon him, erects a 
wall around him, and collects an admission fee from the 
curious who desire to see a "big fish." In the Bay of 
Monterey, and at other points along the southern coast, 
a small species of whale is caught, and considerable 
quantities of oil are made. 

There is but one species of fish in California which 
in quantity and rich flavor surpasses the species of the 
Atlantic ocean: that is the salmon, so abundant in all 
the principal streams of the coast, from the Golden 
Gate to Behring's strait. About November, they enter 
the Bay of San Francisco; and from that period until 
they again seek the ocean, in June following, they are 
caught in great numbers in the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin rivers and all the rivers north. They are a 
staple article of food, and can be found in good supply 
fresh in the markets every day in the year. Some of 
them are of great size, weighing as high as sixty pounds ; 
but the general weight is from twenty-five to thirty 
pounds. 

Sturgeon are abundant in the bays and rivers, but 
are coarse, cheap, and generally not much liked as food. 
Trout are plentiful in most of the lakes and streams of 
the State, but are neither so beautiful nor sweet as the 
Atlantic trout. All the fish on the coast except the 
salmon, smelt, and trout are long, coarse, poor, and 
tasteless, compared with the same species on the Atlan- 
tic coast. A small, poor quality of mackerel is caught 
in and about Monterey bay. A small but very good 



FISHES OF THE PACIFIC. 247 

quality of herring- is very abundant, and is caught in 
great quantities in spring in the Bay of San Francisco 
and along the coast. The real cod is not found on the 
coast of California, but is abundant, although of a small 
class, on the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. 
Rock-cod, a very bony fish, is plentiful; also tomcods, 
smelts, and soles or flatfish. The eel is hot found on 
the Pacific coast, although several species resembling it, 
called eels, are to be found, but all inferior. 

Besides those mentioned, there are a great many 
other kinds of fish in California, the market being sup- 
plied every day in the year with great abundance and 
variety; the prices are very low. 



248 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XX. 

The precious metals — First mention of gold — Gold in Eden — Gods 
of the heathens — Aaron's golden calf — Ornaments of Jerusalem — 
Gold of the Romans — First gold in America — Gold in South 
America and^ Mexico — Gold in Asia and Europe — Gold-mining 
in the United States — Discovery of gold in California — Sir 
Francis Drake's voyage — Expedition of Commodore Wilkes to 
California — Product of gold — Mining operations — Quartz and 
quartz-mining — Rich mines — Quartz mills — Discovery of gold in 
Australia : yield of the precious metals in — On the Pacific coast 
— Mineral wealth of Great Britain — Progress of mining in 
Australia — Chinese in the gold-fields — Precious metal in the 
world. 

In the chapters of this volume treating upon the 
early gold discovery, geology, counties, &c., will be 
found much information respecting mining in California. 
(See these chapters.) 

The discovery of gold brought California prominently 
before the world. Had it not been for that event, more 
than likely San Francisco would be to-day an obscure 
outpost upon our western coast ; Oregon would still 
be a Territory, Alaska still under the imperial flag of 
the Czar, and the great valleys of California un tilled. 

From the earliest period of which we have any 
knowledge, the precious metals have been sought for 
by all nations and classes, and the effects of their 
influence understood and appreciated. The earliest 
records of the human family make mention of gold, 
and the kings, priests, and prophets of ancient times 
seem to have fully understood its value. Abraham's 
riches, as mentioned in Genesis xiii, 2, are said to have 
consisted of cattle, silver, and gold Even the Garden 
of Eden is supposed to have contained the precious 
metals. In Genesis ii, 11, 12, gold is spoken of simul- 



GOLD AND ITS HISTORY. 249 

taneously with the creation, and as existing in the land 
of Havilah, which was encompassed by the first river 
running: from the Garden of Eden. 

Gold formed the gods and idols of the ancients ; and 
Aaron formed a calf of gold for the children of Israel, 
but Moses reduced it to powder by burning it in a fire. 
Solomon employed gold in great abundance in orna- 
menting the temple of Jerusalem. 

South America early produced her share of gold. 
Atahuallpa, the Inca of Peru, offered gold to the value 
of ^15,480,710 for his ransom when a captive of war. 
The land of Ophir (the location of which is still a mys- 
tery) supplied the Phoenicians and Israelites with gold; 
once in three years the ships of King Solomon com- 
pleted a voyage there and back. The Pyrenees and 
Alps supplied the Romans with much of their gold. 
Spain obtained her supply of the precious metals along 
the Tagus ; and the Athenians obtained gold in Thessaly 
and the island of Thasos. 

At the time of the discovery of America, in 1492, the 
total value of the precious metals in the whole of Europe 
was estimated at one hundred and seventy million dol- 
lars. In the year 1600, it had increased to six hundred 
and fifty million dollars — an increase of four-fold in a 
century. So, in a corresponding degree, the value of 
gold decreased, in the fact that every commodity of 
merchandise had advanced four- fold in this period, and 
a corresponding increase in every article of consump- 
tion keeps pace with the increase of the precious 
metals. 

The total amount of the precious metals in circula- 
tion throughout the world, in 1872, is estimated at four 



250 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

billion dollars. Of this amount California has, since 
1848, contributed one billion dollars, and Australia, 
since 1 851, an additional billion dollars. Thus it will 
be seen that California and Australia, in the brief period 
of twenty years, have contributed to the world one-half 
of its gold. 

In estimatinof the wealth of nations and the value of 
products, it must always be borne in mind that, while 
mines of gold and silver become exhausted, the metals 
produced do not, but, unlike the product of shop and 
field, which becomes extinct on use, the precious metals 
retain their value for aees. 

From 1492 to 1500, about fifty- two thousand pounds 
sterling in gold went annually from the American conti- 
nent to Europe. Up to 15 19, of the precious metals 
gold only was found in America. 

With the conquest of Mexico, in 1521, and the dis- 
covery of the rich silver mines of Potosi, in 1545, a 
large supply of silver found its way from America to 
England. In the reign of James VI, gold was mined 
in the slate rocks of Leadhills, Scotland ; and near the 
close of the last century fifty thousand dollars in gold 
was collected in two months, m the county of Wicklow, 
Ireland, At Cornwall, Devonshire, in Wales, and other 
parts of Great Britain, gold has been mined for, but 
never profitably. 

In almost all the mountains and streams of Europe 
and Asia gold has been discovered in less or greater 
quantities, on the Rhine, Rhone, Reuss, Danube, and 
Aar, In the Alps, and Siberia. Up to the date of the 
discovery of gold in California, Russia was the greatest 
gold-producing country In the world. Crcesus Is sup- 



GOLD AND ITS HISTORY. 2^1 

posed to have obtained his gold in the sands of the 
River Pactolus, in Asia Minor. 

The gold product of Borneo is supposed to be about 
five million dollars per annum. 

Gold has been obtained in Japan from time imme- 
morial. During the sixty years that the Dutch traded 
with that country, they are supposed to have carried 
away in trade over forty million dollars in gold. 

The whole region of South and Central America and 
Mexico is rich in gold and silver. The heathens of the 
Isthmus of Panama of past centuries made their gods of 
gold, and interred them in the graves of their dead. A 
few years since, mining ior gods^7s.% a profitable employ- 
ment in New Grenada. 

Gold-mining in the United States is comparatively of 
a recent date ; the first discovery being made in North 
Carolina, in 1 799, in Meadow creek, a small stream in 
Cabarrus county. It was discovered by a boy named 
Conrad Reed, who, on a Sunday, was sporting and catch- 
ing fish in the stream. He saw a yellow lump of metal 
in the water and carried it home ; his father took it to 
the village silversmith at Concord, but he was unable to 
tell what it was. For three years the lump, which was 
about the size of a small smoothing-iron, was used as a 
weight against the door; when, in 1802, the old man 
Reed carried it to Fayetteville : there a jeweller pro- 
nounced it gold, melted it into a bar, and paid Mr. 
Reed three hundred and fifty dollars for it, much to 
his surprise and delight. Meadow creek was soon 
thoroughly explored, when considerable gold was dis- 
covered. In 1803, one piece found in that stream 
weighed twenty-eight pounds, another sixteen pounds. 
In 183 1, a rich quartz vein was discovered in the vicinity 



2C2 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of Meadow creek, and, from this period, mining for gold 
was pushed with interest in North Carolina. 

Previous to 1825, but little gold was found in the 
United States; some small quantities were found in 
Alabama, and between the Coosa and Potomac. In 
1825, a gold-bearing quartz lead was discovered by a 
Mr. Barringer, at Montgomery, North Carolina. Soon 
after this, gold-bearing quartz was discovered in Vir- 
ginia, Georgia, and South Carolina ; and gold in small 
quantities was obtained from many rivers in these States. 

In 1824, the first native gold appeared in the United 
States mint at Philadelphia. The supply increased 
considerably for a few years. Up to 1827, North Caro- 
lina was the chief gold-producing State in the Union. 

The entire product of gold of the five Southern 
States, from 1828 to 1872, is estimated to have been 
forty million dollars, as follows: North Carolina, eighteen 
million five hundred thousand dollars; Georgia, fourteen 
million five hundred thousand dollars; Virginia, three 
million five hundred thousand dollars ; South Carolina, 
three million dollars ; Alabama, five hundred thousand 
dollars. In 1829, the first mint deposit of gold from 
South Carolina — thirty-five hundred dollars — was made; 
in the same year, Virginia deposited twenty-five hundred 
dollars; and, in 1830, Georgia deposited two hundred 
and twelve thousand dollars. 

The increase of gold from the Southern States was 
so great that, in 1837, a United States mint was estab- 
lished at Charlotte, North Carolina, and another at 
Dahlonega, Georgia. It is estimated that the Southern 
States yielded an average of one million dollars in gold 
annually, from 1808 up to the discovery of gold in 
California in 1848. Gold in these regions was gener- 



GOLD AND ITS HISTORY. 253 

ally obtained from decomposed quartz and from slate 
rock of such a poor quality that it seldom paid for work- 
ing ; and of late years the yield has gready fallen off, 
it having been for the last twenty years less than five 
hundred thousand dollars per annum. Gold has been 
discovered in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire, 
and Vermont, but not in quantities to justify working. 

In many parts of Canada gold has been found in 
small quantities; and, in i860, free gold in well-defined 
quartz ledges was discovered in the southeastern part 
of Nova Scoda ; these mines are still profitably worked. 

The discovery of gold in California in 1848, and in 
Australia in 1851, introduced a new era in the produc- 
tion of the precious metals. Gold is known to have 
been discovered in Australia as early as 1839, t>y Count 
Strazelecki, who, in September of the following year, 
informed the lieutenant-governor of the colony of his 
discovery. In 1 841, the Rev. Mr. Clark announced that 
he had discovered gold in Australia; and, from the 
year 1843 ^^ 1847, Sir Roderick I. Murchison repeatedly 
urged the exploration of Australia for the precious 
metals. In February, 1851, a Mr. Hargrove, who had 
been in California, found gold in Australia, and in April 
following announced his discovery, which led to the 
finding of the vast gold-fields of that region, so rich and 
so profitably worked up to the present period, with 
prospects of inexhaustible supply. 

GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 

The first mention of gold in California is found in a 
small volume of romance published in Spain in 15 10 — 
seventy years before the arrival of Sir Francis Drake 
in California. The book is entitled ''The Scrgas of 



254 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



Esplmidian, the so7i of Amadis of Gaul.'' (See Chapter 
XIII of this volume.) In this romance the following 
passage occurs : " The island was the strongest in the 
world, from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their 
arms [the natives'] were all of gold, and so were the 
caparisons of the wild beasts they rode." 

The next mention of gold in California is found in 
Hukluyt's account of Sir Francis Drake's voyage to 
California in the summer of 1579. In this account a 
paragraph reads : " There is no part of the earth here 
to be taken up wherein there is not a reasonable quan- 
tity of gold or silver." This statement of Hukluyt is a 
pure fiction, like the account of the Spanish novelist of 
1 5 10, and was only intended to lend a charm to the 
distant land of California. Most of Californians well 
know that there is not a shovelful of earth in the vicinity 
of Drake's bay, or any portion of the coast wherein the 
English buccaneer spent the six weeks in 1579, in 
which there is " a reasonable quantity of gold or silver," 
so far as known, nor has either of these metals been 
discovered in any quantity up to the present time 
within the radius of one hundred miles of Drake's 
bay, in Marin county. 

Placer gold in small quantities had been discovered 
in California at various times between the years 1775 
and 1828, near the Colorado in the southern part of 
California; in 1802, a vein of mineral supposed to con- 
tain gold was discovered at Olizal, in Monterey county; 
and, in 1828, small particles of placer gold were dis- 
covered at San Isdro, in San Diego county; but none 
of these indications of the precious metals were suffi- 
cient to attract public attention, or to warrant the belief 
that gold existed in paying quantities in the country. 



GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 255 

Alexander Forbes, the British consul at Monterey, in 
writing a history of California in 1835, says: "No min- 
erals of particular importance have yet been found in 
Upper California, nor any ores of minerals." In 1838, 
at San Francisquito, about forty-five miles northwest 
from Los Angeles, placer gold was discovered in small 
quantities ; these mines were worked steadily for many 
years with considerable profit. 

James D. Dana, who accompanied the expedition of 
Commodore Wilkes as mineralogist to the coast of 
California in 1841, and who made a trip from the 
Columbia river, overland through Oregon and by the 
Sacramento valley, to San Francisco, in his official report 
to the Congress of the United States, mentioned that 
gold had been found in the Sacramento valley and in 
Southern Oregon; but Dana did not seem to be much 
interested in the discovery, nor to consider it of any 
importance. 

On the 4th of May, 1 846, Thomas O. Larkin, United 
States consul at Monterey, in an official correspondence 
with James Buchanan, the Secretary of State, said: 
"There is no doubt but gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, 
lead, sulphur, and coal mines are to be found all over 
California; and it is equally doubtful whether, under 
their present owners, they will ever be worked." On 
the 7th of July following — sixty-six days after the date 
of this communication — the stars and stripes floated 
over Monterey, and California was a part of the Ameri- 
can republic. 

On the 19th of January, 1848, ten days before the 
signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, James W. 
Marshall discovered gold at Coloma, on the American 
river, as has been described in a preceding chapter. 



256 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



On the 15th of March following, the first printed 
notice of the discovery was made in the Californian, 
published at San Francisco, as follows: 

''In the newly made race-way of the saw-mill recently erected 
by Captain Sutter, on the American fork, gold has been found in, 
considerable quantities. One person brought thirty dollars to New 
Helvetia, gathered there in a short time." 

The same paper, May 29, 1848, announced that its 
publication would be suspended, as follows: 

"The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and 
from the sea-shore to the base of the Sierra Nevada, resounds with 
the sordid cry of gold / gold ! gold / while the field is left half 
planted, the house half built, and every thing neglected but the 
manufacture of picks and shovels and the means of transportation 
to the spot where one man obtained one hundred and twenty-eight 
dollars worth of the real stuff in one day's washing, and the average 
for all concerned is twenty dollars per diem." 

From 1848 to the present period, the gold mines of 
California have been worked most successfully; not al- 
ways certainly with profit to those engaged, but in the 
aggregate producing almost one billion dollars. The 
following table will show the annual product for the last 
twenty-four years: 



1848, .... ;gio,ooo,ooo 

1849, 40,000,000 

1850, 50,000,000 

1851, 55,000,000 

1852, 60,000,000 

1853, 65,000,000 

1854, 60,000,000 

1855, 55,000,000 

1856, 55,000,000 

1857, 55,000,000 

1858, 50,000,000 

1859, 50,000,000 

1S60, 45,000,000 



1861, .... $40,000,000 

1862, 34,700,000 

1863, 30,000,000 

1864, 26,600,000 

1865, 28,500,000 

1866, 26,500,000 

1867, 25,000,000 

1868, 25,000,000 

1869, 25,000,000 

1870, 25,000,000 

1871, 25,000,000 



Total, . . $961,000,000 



GOLD IN CALIFORXIA. 257 

It will be observed that the decrease has been steadily 
going on since 1853: this is owing to the fact that about 
that period the rich placers and river beds were vigor- 
ously worked, and that a few years after this period 
most of this class of mines were worked out, and quartz, 
cement, and bank diggings had to be operated at a great 
outlay and often with but indifferent results. 

The mineral belt in California extends from the Ore- 
gon State line, on the north, southward the entire length 
of the State, and to the summit of the Sierras on the 
east, from which it extends a distance of from fifty to 
seventy-five miles west, embracing the western slope of 
the Sierras. This district embraces all the Sierra ranofe 
in California, with the heads of all the important rivers 
in the State and the foot-hills and gulches of the Sierras 
— the richest orold-bearinof regfion ever discovered. 
Within this wide ranee eold has been found in its 
virgin state on the sides and ravines of grassy hills, the 
summits of high table-lands, sandy and gravelly flats, 
the rich loam soil of the gardens and wheat-fields, the 
ridges, sand-bars, and beds of living and* ancient rivers. 

During the first five or six years after the gold dis- 
covery in California, the efforts of the miners were 
chiefly directed to mining in the gulches, streams, and 
river beds; and every available spot of this class 
swarmed with thousands of gold-seekers, who pene- 
trated every nook and corner in this wide range, and 
with prospecting-pan, shovel, and rocker, tom, sluice, 
wing-damming the rivers, sluicing the flats and side- 
hills, have discovered and pretty thoroughly worked 
most of the accessible surface-diggings in the State. 
From this period, (1853,) the time at which the mines 

produced the largest annual yield, the decline in this 
17 



258 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

branch of mining has been steady; until, at the present 
time, there is but Httle surface-mining in the State, ex- 
cept that done by Chinese, who, unskilled in the deeper 
and more complicated mining of to-day, seek the aban- 
doned placer mines of the whites or such new fields as 
would not pay white labor, and, by a system of frugality, 
industry, and sobriety known only to this patient race, 
obtain large sums from this class of mines — seventy- 
five cents, one dollar, and one dollar and a-half per day 
being considered good wages. 

With a decline in placer-mining came a decline in 
^wages. In the flush times of '49, an ounce in gold (six- 
teen dollars) per day was a miner's wages ; in 1852, it 
bad fallen to eight dollars; and, in 1853, to five dollars; 
:since which time it has steadily declined until the 
present, when two to three dollars are the wages. In 
all these cases, the miner finds himself in board, lodg- 
ing, &c. ; he also often finds it most difficult to obtain 
employment even at those rates. 

Placer-mining Is not entirely ended in California, but 
all ground that would pay the primitive methods of 
mining during the first few years after the discovery of 
gold is worked ; the individual can no longer with 
crevice-knife, shovel, torn, or pan hope for rewards in 
any part of the State. These primitive implements, the 
long lines of sluices, the temporary ditches, winding 
their serpentine course along rugged hills and spanning 
deep gulches, ridges, and piles of gravel, wing-dams, 
water-wheels, saw-mills, tumble-down shanties, aban- 
doned villages, and general debris of the early gold- 
hunter's home, all proclaim In mute but solemn and 
fast Increasing eloquence the decline of that period in 
our history when the monthly and semi-monthly steam- 



jl^'i 




CHINESE, GOLD MIXING IN CAIIFORNI.' 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 259 

ers deposited their thousands of gold-seekers in San 
Francisco, when the "prairie schooner" toiled its weary 
march over the inhospitable plains, and a population of 
adventurous, bold, impetuous men, drawn from all 
quarters of the globe, entered upon that terribly wild, 
romantic drama, half comic, half tragic, wherein the 
sharp report of the pistol, the shrieks of the wounded, 
groans of the dying and disappointed, blasphemy of the 
wicked, bacchanalian revelries of the drunkard, discord- 
ant tones of the hurdy-gurdy and ballet girl, inharmo- 
nious squeak of the rude violin of the fandango, the 
popping of bottle corks, the shuffling of tumblers and 
the clink of gold on the gambling table, kept time to 
the click of the pick, shovel, prospecting-pan, and rocker 
of the busy miner. 

On the decline of placer-mining in California the at- 
tention of thousands was turned to other pursuits, and 
from that period dates the permanent prosperity of 
the State and the development of the vast and varied 
resources of the soil. 

At each stage, as the nature of the mines changed, 
appliances and machinery were adapted to their work- 
ing ; the pan gave way to the rocker, the rocker to the 
sluice and shovel, and finally to the use of powder and 
the hydraulic, which powerful agents levelled the hills 
and made mining possible and profitable, when under 
the old system it was both impossible and unprofitable. 
Vast portions of the gulches and foot-hills of the Sierras 
which are impregnated with gold, either in particles of 
floury fineness, scaly or coarse, are now worked by 
water, carried often a great distance in ditches and 
flumes; the object in carrying the water in these flumes 
being to get the elevation as great as possible above 



26o THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the ground to be sluiced. The process of washing is 
done by attaching a strong canvas or leather hose with 
a nozzle of two or more Inches in diameter, when the 
water is played upon the face of the bank from numer- 
ous streams, as firemen play upon a burning building, 
so handling the hose and nozzle as to undermine the 
hills or mountains: these operations often cause the 
banks to cave in in immense masses, often with fatal 
result to the inexperienced. Sometimes where the 
mountain is great or the ground hard, drifts are pierced 
into its sides. Into which great quantities of powder are 
placed; when this "mine" Is exploded, a deep sound 
like the rumbling of an earthquake is heard, and for 
miles around the shock caused by the explosion is felt; 
the hill is shivered to atoms, and the earth and bould- 
ers are so loose that the water from the hose soon 
washes them down. Sluice-boxes are so arranged at 
the foot of the hill that all the earth and gravel pass 
through them in the flood of escaping water. In riffles 
and false bottoms in these sluices are placed deposits 
of quicksilver; the fine particles of gold being heavier 
than sand find the bottom of the sluice, and on their 
passage down in the water are caught by the quicksil- 
ver, where they are held in amalgam until the miner 
finally — once a week or once in several months — cleans 
out his sluices, takes out the gold and quicksilver, which 
is in a soft mass of about the consistency of dough. 
The gold, being all coated with the quicksilver, is put 
into a retort or close iron vessel and placed in a hot 
fire; the quicksilver, escaping through a tube, falls into 
a dish, is caught and saved for future use; the gold, in 
a solid lump, free from quicksilver, is now taken from 
the retort and ready for the market or mint. 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 261 

Another branch of mining is the working of quartz. 
Lodes of great richness have been discovered in many 
parts of the State, and have been worked for many 
years. The first quartz-mining in CaHfornia was soon 
after the discovery of gold, and was conducted by 
Mexicans, who had had experience in this branch In 
the mines of Mexico. The process was crude, either 
pounding the quartz in mortars or grinding it in rude 
arrastars worked by a single mule; but as they worked 
only rich ores, they generally succeeded in making 
them pay. 

As early as 1850, quartz-mining was commenced at 
Grass valley. In Nevada county, and soon at other points 
in the State; but, from ignorance and imperfect ma- 
chinery, the first five or six years of this branch of 
mining was a failure, often entailing serious loss upon 
all concerned. By degrees, experience, cheapness of 
labor, and Improved machinery gave a new Impetus to 
this branch of industry, which Is fast on the increase In 
the State. Throupfhout the lenofth of the Sierras for 
about four hundred and fifty miles, and from the sum- 
mit of that range for a distance of from thirty to fifty 
miles along Its western slope, quartz ledges, generally 
incased In granite, are found; some of great size and 
richness, others most seductive and ruinous to all en- 
gaged In them. 

The chief quartz -mining districts of California are 
situated In Tuolumne county near Sonora, and James- 
town near Mariposa In Mariposa county; about Clear 
creek, Tulare county; Angels, Calaveras county; Jack- 
son, Amadore county; Logtown, El Dorado county; 
Nevada and Grass valley, Nevada county; Downie- 
ville, Sierra county; Indian valley, Plumas county. 



262 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The extent and width of leads, yield per ton, and pro- 
duction of mines vary very widely. Of eighty-four 
principal gold quartz ledges recently examined, it was 
ascertained that the average thickness of twenty-one is 
from one to twelve inches; twenty, from thirteen to 
twenty- four; nine, from twenty-five to thirty-six; ten, 
from thirty-seven to forty-eight; nine, from five to ten 
feet. It will be thus seen that the ledges are generally 
very narrow; but as the quality has much to do with 
the productiveness, many of the small leads yield the 
greatest amount of bullion. 

The yield of the eighty-four mines examined run 
from four dollars to one hundred and eighty dollars to 
the ton — one mine yielding the former amount, and 
one the latter. Of the others, three yielded six dol- 
lars ; four, eight dollars ; one, nine dollars ; nine, ten 
dollars ; twenty-two, between ten dollars and nineteen 
dollars ; fourteen, between twenty dollars and twenty- 
nine dollars; fourteen, between thirty dollars and forty- 
nine dollars; three, between fifty dollars and sixty-nine 
dollars ; and in four the yield was over seventy dollars. 

The cost of extracting and working ores varies much; 
often governed by the location, extent of the lead, free- 
ness of the ore from base metals, fuel and transporta- 
tion. For instance : in the mine yielding one hundred 
and eighty dollars per ton, the lead was only two inches 
thick and it cost sixty dollars to extract a ton of ore ; 
while in a lead fifteen feet wide and yielding fifteen dol- 
lars per ton, it cost but fifty cents to extract a ton of 
ore. The cost of extracting a ton of ore from the mines 
examined was from fifty cents to twenty-six dollars. 
The average cost, however, of the eighty-four examined 
mines was about four dollars per ton ; while to work 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 263 

the ore from the time it left the mine until it was in 
amalgam was from seventy-five cents to seven dollars 
per ton, or an average of about three dollars. To the 
price of extracting the ore, averaging about four dollars 
per ton, the cost of milling, averaging about three dol- 
lars per ton, must be added; also, an average of about 
sixty cents per ton for transportation: making the 
average expenses for mining and reducing the ore, until 
the gold is extracted, $7.60 per ton : while the average 
yield of ore per ton is ^18.50, leaving a profit of ^10.90 
per ton. It must be borne in mind that these figures 
indicate an avei'age, and do not by any means convey 
the idea that all mines pay this amount ; for instance : 
some lodes worked only yield in all four dollars per 
ton; these are worked at a cost of about $2.50, leaving 
a profit of $1.50 per ton; while many cost all that is 
obtained, leaving nothing. The famous Eureka mine 
at Grass valley, Nevada county, yields about forty-seven 
dollars per ton, and costs about fifteen dollars per ton 
for mining and milling; leaving about thirty-two dollars 
per ton net profit. 

The average yield of quartz in California and Nevada 
is the largest of any in the world. In many mines in 
Austria and Russia, quartz is worked which yields but 
one dollar and two dollars to the ton ; and, in Japan, 
even lower grades are profitably worked. 

The famous St. John Del Rey, in Brazil, one of the 
oldest and most profitable gold-mines in the world, has 
produced over fifteen million dollars in about forty 
years working; yet its gross yield per ton is only $7.59. 

The most remarkable mine in the world is the Corn- 
stock lode at Virginia, in the State of Nevada, produc- 
ing gold and silver, but chiefly the latter. It was dis- 



264 ^'-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

covered in 1858, by James Fennimore, who, soon after, 
sold his interest for a trifle to Henry Comstock. More 
than fifty companies are at work on this lode, which has 
produced over one hundred million dollars in bullion 
since its opening, the yield per ton being about forty 
dollars. No single lode of ancient or modern times 
equals this immense mass of ore. The lode proper is 
located within an area three miles in length by about 
six hundred yards in width ; but the lode proper, in its 
widest place, is only one hundred and fifty feet, and at 
some points only a few feet. About five thousand men 
are employed annually in the various mines on this 
lode, the average annual yield per man being twenty- 
five hundred dollars: this is the greatest average yield 
from any one lode in the world. The mines of Cali- 
fornia and the districts of Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Som- 
brerete. Chihuahua, Durango, Potosi, and Alamos pale 
before the magnitude of this great silver mountain. 

The richest mining-district in California is in a radius 
of four miles around Grass valley, Nevada county, which 
yields over three million five hundred thousand dollars 
annually, employing two thousand men, who produce 
an average of seventeen hundred and fifty dollars to 
each person ; the quartz yielding from thirty dollars to 
thirty-five dollars per ton. The greatest yield in the 
State is reported in this district: one thousand dollars 
per ton from a small lode running a mill of eight 
stamps only. 

It is estimated that about one-third of the gold yield 
of California is now obtained from quartz ; while the 
remainder is obtained from bank, cement, and placer 
diggings. Considerable depth has been obtained in 
some of the quartz mines: the Eureka, at Grass valley, 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 265 

is supposed to have gone to the greatest depth of any in 
the State — over 1,220 feet ; a few others have gone to a 
depth of from six hundred to seven hundred feet, while 
most are down from one hundred to two hundred feet. 

Improved machinery for crushing quartz, with the 
decrease in wages, is steadily inducing capitalists to 
embark in mines partly if not wholly abandoned many 
years since ; still, throughout the entire quartz region 
of the State, will long remain deserted mines, rickety, 
tumble-down mills, and rusty machinery, witnesses of 
the recklessness and folly of the thousands who, through 
ignorance if not through worse motives, induced capi- 
talists to supply mills before a "lead" had been dis- 
covered, only to be abandoned so soon as failure stared 
them in the face, with the admonition to discover and 
test a mine before building a mill! 

There is no branch of industry or speculation wherein 
there has been so much deception practised as in the 
quartz-mining of the Pacific coast. Periodical spasms 
of Excitement are gotten up about some new mining- 
district; "prospecters" start out and soon return with 
their "pockets full of rocks," often genuine discoveries 
but as often rich specimens obtained from some old 
working mine ; assays are made, showing hundreds or 
thousands of dollars per ton ; people become excited, 
companies are incorporated, shares sold — they look 
pretty on paper — capitalists invest and lose. 

Cement Mining. — Within a few years past large 
bodies of cement in the hillsides and flats of the mining 
regions of the State have been found to contain gold. 
This cement is crushed and worked like quartz, and is 
attracting considerable attention. 



266 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Mining on the Gold Beaches. — Beginning at Hum- 
boldt bay, in Humboldt county, and extending northward 
for more than two hundred miles upon the beach of the 
Pacific, both in California and Oregon, the sands of the 
shore are mingled with fine gold-dust, and, at each con- 
vulsion of the ocean, new deposits are thrown to the 
surface ; the violence of each successive storm seeming 
to heave new treasures from the depths of the sea. 
Upon this beach miners erect their sluices, guide the 
waters of the mountain streams through them, and 
wash the sand of this golden shore for its precious con- 
tents. An average of ten dollars to the man per day 
is made, but, owing to loss of time occasioned by storms 
and other delays, this species of mining has not always 
been profitable. 

Quartz Mills. — It Is estimated that there are about 
four hundred and fifty quartz-mills, with an aggregate 
of 5,500 stamps, in the State. The machinery of these 
mills is estimated to have cost over seven million dol- 
lars ; more than half of them are propelled by steam, 
the rest by water. There are more than one hundred 
of them lying idle ; some having been erected where no 
quartz or mineral existed, others upon lodes of poor 
quality, and some upon ledges now exhausted. 

A comparison between the several gold-producing 
sections of the Pacific coast and California, and the gold 
product of Australia, and the mineral resources of 
Great Britain, may not prove uninteresting. 

The yield of the precious metals upon the whole Pa- 
cific coast for the year 1871 is estimated at ^68,000,000: 
California producing but a little over one-third of 
this amount. The yield was as follows: California, 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 267 

$25,000,000; Nevada, $25,000,000; Idaho, $8,000,000; 
Oregon, $3,000,000; Utah, $2,500,000; British Colum- 
bia, $2,000,000; Arizona, $1,500,000; and Washington 
Territory, $1,000,000. Estimating the gold and silver 
product of California, since the discovery of gold in 
1848 to the year 1872, at $1,000,000,000, and the pro- 
duct of all the other sections of the Pacific coast, from 
the discovery of gold in them to the year 1872, at 
$200,000,000, would give an aggregate yield for the 
whole coast of $1,200,000,000, to the period ending 
January i, 1872. 

In 1 85 1, gold was discovered in Australia; and, from 
that period forward to the present, mines, both in 
placers and quartz, have produced abundantly of the 
precious metals. In 1852, the gold-mines of Victoria 
produced $44,375,640; and. In 1856, produced the 
largest amount of any single year since the discovery — 
$59,719,820. California's greatest yield was in 1853 — 
$65,000,000. Since 1856, there has been a marked 
decline in the product of the Australian mines; but 
these mines produce more at the present time than do 
the gold-mines of California. The gold-fields of Aus- 
tralia extend over Victoria, New South Wales, New 
Zealand, and Queensland; and the mines of these re- 
gions, from the year 1851 to 1872, have produced an 
aggregate of gold equal to the whole product of Cali- 
fornia from 1848 to 1872 — $1,000,000,000. The figures 
following exhibit the result of the periods named, and 
the product since these last dates is estimated, and is as 
nigh correct as can well be ascertained. 

Victoria, from 1851 to 1868, yielded $711,369,000; 
New South Wales, from 1851 to 1868, $148,314,125; 
Queensland, from i860 to 1867, $2,424,850; New Zea- 



268 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

land, from 1853 to 1867, ^74,924,280: showing a total 
within these dates of $937,032,255. 

It will be observed in the table of annual yield of 
gold in California that the amount from the discovery 
of gold to 1872 is but $961,000,000. Amounts, going 
from the mines into the hands of private parties, and 
not easily accounted for, have been estimated to swell 
the amount in the table to $1,000,000,000; and the es- 
timated aggregate amounts obtained from the Austra- 
lian mines and the amounts passing into private hands, 
since the last reports above, will swell the total pro- 
duct of Australia to a little over the entire yield of 
California. 

The approximate value in the yield of the precious 
metals in California and Australia, considering the large 
amounts and that the dates of discovery in each country 
are so close to each other, is something most remarka- 
ble in the history of gold-mining and the gold product 
of the world. 

The government of Victoria collects for miners* 
licenses, miners' rights, leases of gold and mineral 
lands, and other mining taxes; while in the United 
States no collections are made, except in a few instances 
where local governments impose a small tax upon 
Chinese, and that in violation of the laws of the 
national government. 

In the seven leading mining- districts of Victoria, 
namely, Ballarat, Beeckworth, Sandhurst, Maryborough, 
Castlemain, Ararat, and Gippsland, there are 2,431 
miles of water races constructed, at a cost of $1,551,350. 
The area of land held as claims in the same districts is 
133,575 acres; and the estimated value of the claims in 
these seven districts is $44,347,520. The number of 



GOLD AND GOLD-MINING. 269 

machines employed in alluvial mining are 441 steam- 
engines, 1,887 pumping machines, 298 whims, 320 
whips, 261 cradles, 19,346 water-wheels, 643 stamps 
crushing cement ; and the number employed in quartz- 
mining are 602 steam-engines, ^6 crushing machines, 
5,977 stamps, 512 whims, 436 whips. The value of all 
the mining machinery and appliances used in mining 
in Victoria is estimated at ^10,752,160. 

The number of men engaged in mining in Victoria, 
in 1 85 1, was 19,300; the largest number in i860, 
108,562 ; and the number in 1868 was 64,658. 

In 1857, there were 36,327 Chinamen working at the 
mines in Victoria. In 1868, the number was reduced 
to 15,300. The remainder have nearly all returned to 
their native land. Only fifty-six of the 15,300 were 
working at the quartz mines ; the balance were work- 
ing- on the alluvial mines. 

In 1852, the average earnings of miners was ^1,310;. 
in 1862, it fell to $336; in 1868, the average rose to 
^520 per man per annum. 

Gold, of all metals, has a peculiar charm for the 
human faraily, and the real value of the baser metals is 
often ignored in the thirst for the circulating medium as 
it comes glittering from the mine or the mint. Great 
Britain does not produce the precious metals, yet her 
annual yield of minerals far surpasses all the gold of 
California, and that in such magnitude that there is no 
comparison. The annual value of the mineral products 
of Great Britain is about three times as great as the 
greatest annual yield of gold in California, and eight 
times as great as the mines of California produce at the 
present period. The value of the minerals taken from 
the mines of Great Britain, in 1869, was ^176,269,000. 



270 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

If we calculate this amount by twenty-four, the years 
of the existence of the gold-mines of California, and in 
which they have produced ^1,000,000,000, we will have 
the aggregate sum of ^4,230,456,000 worth of iron, 
lead, copper, tin, and coal in Great Britain, against 
^1,000,000,000 of gold produced from all the mines of 
California within the same period. A feature worthy 
of notice in connection with this subject is that, while 
the yield of the precious metals in California is steadily 
on the decrease, the production of the mines of the 
British islands is steadily on the increase. But it is 
doubtless only a question of time when the supply from 
the earth must give out. 

The minerals raised from the earth in the United 
Kingdom, in 1869, were of the value of no less than 
$176,269,000. This amount exceeds that of the pre- 
ceding year by upwards of $8,000,000. The coal pro- 
duced in 1869 was 107,427,557 tons. The returns for 
1868 showed only 103,141,157 tons produced, being less 
than in 1869 by above four million tons. The produc- 
tion of iron ore in 1869 advanced to 1 1,508,525 tons, of 
the value of $ 1 6,000,000 ; the quantity is about 1,340,000 
tons more than the year preceding. The great increase 
is in North Staffordshire and in Scotland. The tin ore 
amounted to 14,720 tons, and copper ore, 129,953 tons. 



MINES AND MINING. 27 1 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Tunnel-mining — Sutro tunnel — Canals — Ditches — Asphaltum — - 
Cement — Coal — Copper — Cobalt — Nickle — Diamonds — Electro- 
silicon — Gypsum — Iron — Lead — Petroleum — Quicksilver — Salt 
— Sulphur — Tin — Marble — Granite — Caves — Mining laws — Min- 
ing laws of Spain and Mexico — Geology and mineralogy — Great 
mines of the world. 

Tunnel-Mining. — Tunnel-minino- is carried on to a 
considerable extent in California: mountains are pierced 
through granite and slate, for great distances and at 
great expenditure of time and money, in order to reach 
quartz veins ; the object being to strike the lode as low 
down as possible, so as to drain the mine of water and 
extract ore : when the lode is reached, drifts and branch 
tunnels enable the miner to quarry the quartz, which 
finds its way through the main tunnel to the surface or 
the mill, where it is ground and the metal extracted. 
Mountains are also often pierced in order to reach the 
deposits of gold dust in the beds of ancient rivers and 
basins, which In many instances have proven very rich. 

Sutro Tunnel. — The grandest project in tunnel- 
mining in America Is the Sutro tunnel, at Virginia City, 
in the State of Nevada, intended to cut the famous 
Comstock lode, and pass under Mount Davidson at a 
depth of 7,827 feet from its top, which is 1,622 feet 
above Virginia City. 

The Comstock lode will be reached by this tunnel at 
a distance of twenty thousand feet, or three and one- 
fourth miles, from its mouth, and be cut at a perpen- 
dicular depth of 1,900 feet — or 2,900, following the dip 



272 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of the lode. At the beginning of the year 1872, the 
Crown Point, Belcher, and other mines on this lode 
had reached a depth of 1,700 feet, developing marvel- 
lous richness. The present working of all the mines on 
this lode is done by the tedious and expensive process 
of hoisting through shafts and pumping out water. The 
tunnel when completed will drain the mines to a great 
depth, and open a wide avenue for transporting ores 
from the vein on cars. It is estimated that three and 
a-half years from January i, 1872, will be necessary to 
reach the lode by this tunnel, involving an outlay of 
four and a-half million dollars. 

Congress, by act of July 25, 1866, has made liberal 
donations to this project, granting in perpetuity a belt 
of rich mineral land through which the tunnel passes, 
seven miles in length and four thousand feet in width — 
5,080 acres ; also, 1,280 acres of land at the mouth of 
the tunnel, the exclusive ownership of all mines dis 
covered by the tunnel, and a royalty forever of two 
dollars on each ton of ore extracted from any part of 
the Comstock lode after the vein is reached by the tun- 
nel. The payment of this amount is made compulsory 
by the same act. From this tax the tunnel company 
will derive a large revenue. Work on the tunnel is 
being vigorously pushed. 

Deep mining, on true silver veins such as the Com- 
stock, has proved most successful. The shafts now 
down three thousand feet on the Sampson mine, in 
Germany — the deepest in the world — demonstrate con- 
tinued and improving richness. 

Beyond all doubt the Comstock lode is the most ex- 
tensive and the richest quartz mine in the world, far 
surpassing any thing in Mexico, South and Central 



MINES AND MINING. 273 

America, and Europe. Granada, in Spain; Kongsberg, 
in Norway; Pasco, in Peru ; Potosi, in Bolivia; Chanar- 
cillo, in Chili; Valenciana, Veta Granda, Real del 
Monte, of Mexico; the Schemnitz and Felsobanya, of 
Hungary — although representing the great silver sup- 
ply fountains of the world — all pale before the magni- 
tude of the Comstock, of Nevada. 

The lode proper, as developed in the Comstock, ex- 
tends five miles in length, and has a width of from fifty 
to five hundred feet. Fifty steam-engines and three 
thousand men are employed in working the various 
mines, which were opened in 1859, and have yielded, 
up to January, 1872, an aggregate of one hundred and 
forty million dollars — of which ninety million dollars 
was silver and fifty million dollars gold. 

With the present mode of working, rock yielding 
less than twenty dollars a ton is not worked, because 
it will not pay. 

The annual yield from the Comstock is now about 
sixteen million dollars, and of the State of Nevada 
twenty-five million dollars. 

The Austrian government has but recently completed 
the adit-level of Joseph II, commenced in 1782, leading 
from the valley of the river Gran to the mining district 
at Schemnitz, a distance of ten miles, cutting the veins 
at a depth of fourteen hundred feet. It is ten feet wide 
and twelve high, used both as a railway and canal, and 
was constructed partly to explore for new veins and 
pardy to drain mines already in operation. The 
Schemnitz mines, in the northern part of Hungary, 
furnish gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, and sulphur — 
gold to the value of about seventy-five thousand dol- 
lars, silver seven hundred thousand dollars — the annual 



iS 



274 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



value of all the metals not exceeding one million five 
hundred thousand dollars. 

The celebrated silver mines at Freiberg, in operation 
since the commencement of the thirteenth century, are 
at present drained by an adit beginning on a tributary 
of the river Elbe, extending something over eight 
miles, so as to communicate with all the mines in the 
upper part of the district, being over eight feet wide 
and nearly ten feet high, securing a drainage at a depth 
of sixteen hundred feet. But, as the ore of these mines 
continues to increase in richness with the depth, it has 
been proposed by eminent engineers, and the govern- 
ment of Saxony it is said has in contemplation the con- 
struction of an adit-level of the extraordinary length 
of twenty-two miles, opening in the river Elbe, and 
cutting the veins of the Freiberg district at the average 
depth of two thousand feet. Should this bold concep- 
tion ever be carried into practical effect, it will consti- 
tute one of the grandest enterprises of the present age, 
and the most extensive mining tunnel in the world. 

The Freiberg mines, to which so much talent, energy, 
and such vast expenditures of money are being de- 
voted in contriving works to operate and improve them, 
yield a silver product of the annual value of about one 
million dollars, and in a period of nearly three hundred 
and fifty years have produced an aggregate value not 
exceeding one hundred and twenty million dollars. 

The Harz mines, in the district of Clausthal, in the 
former kingdom of Hanover, are drained by a tunnel 
penetrating the mountains for a distance of six and 
one-half miles, nine hundred feet beneath the town of 
Clausthal, commenced in 1777 and completed about 
the beginning of the present century. The first tunnel 



MINES AND MINING. 275 

in the Harz for draining mines was commenced in 1525, 
and before the end of that century three more were 
constructed; and, in 1799, another was completed of a 
length, including galleries, of nearly eleven miles. 

In 1851, the Ernst August tunnel was commenced in 
the neighborhood of Gittelde to drain the deep mines 
of the Clausthal district, estimated to require twenty- 
two years in its completion, but by the improved appli- 
ances now used in tunnelling was finished in 1864 — in 
twelve years and eleven months. This is said to be 
the largest tunnel in the Harz, and furnishes the deep- 
est natural drainage to the mines that can ever be ob- 
tained. The water in this tunnel has sufficient depth 
to allow the use of long flat-boats for the transportation 
pf the ore. - 

The mines of the Harz are chiefly argentiferous' 
galena, with copper pyrites, iron pyrites, and gray cop- 
per ore. producing annually a supply of silver worth 
six hundred thousand dollars; lead, five hundred and 
seventy-five thousand dollars; copper, ninety thousand 
dollars; iron, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars; or an aggregate value of one million four hundred 
thousand dollars. • 

It will thus be seen that the combined yearly product 
of Schemnitz, Freiberg, and the upper Harz, for the 
profitable working of which the best engineering talent 
of Europe has been taxed for a period of three centu- 
ries to provide means of drainage and ventilation, and 
the governments of Austria, Saxony, and Hanover have 
lavishly expended so much money, is not much over four 
million dollars, or about one-fourth of the value of the 
gold and silver annually furnished by the Comstock lode. 

In all the localities above , referred to, where deep 



276 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

drainage has been effected, the result appears to have 
fully realized the expectations of the projectors, so 
much so at Freiberg that it is contemplated to drive an 
adit far surpassing any similar work yet undertaken, 
and reaching a lower level than any hitherto attained 
in that locality; and both in Freiberg and in the Harz 
the ores appear not merely to have maintained their 
quality, but even to have increased in richness with the 
depth of the mine. 

The great Sampson vein, on the Harz, has been 
worked to the depth of 2,580 feet, being the deepest 
mine now in operation on the globe. At the depth of 
2,160 feet, one of the finest accumulations of ore ever 
met with was reached; and, although the works have 
been carried down four hundred and twenty feet further, 
this superior quality of the ore is still maintained. 

A tunnel of fifteen miles in length was commenced 
some years since in Saxony, intended to open the prin- 
cipal mines of Freiberg; it is supposed that fifty years 
labor will be necessary to insure its completion. 

Quartz-mining is in its infancy in California. The 
western ridge of the Sierras from its summit is ribbed 
for its entire length with a series of rich gold quartz 
veins, and not until these mountains are pierced with 
such gigantic tunnels as those of some of the mines of 
Europe and the Sutro tunnel will California begin to 
yield her golden treasure, now held in the granite 
coffers of the Sierra Nevadas, awaiting only the touch 
of scientific labor to open their ponderous doors. 

Canals and Ditches. — In every branch of mining 
water is necessary, and, where it cannot be obtained 
through natural channels, artificial conveyances must 



MINES AND MINING. 277 

be constructed. To conduct water to the mines scat- 
tered over the slopes of the Sierras and foot-hills of 
California has been a work of great skill, as well as of 
great necessity, and the whole interior mining district 
is a complete net-work of ditches and canals. There 
are over five hundred ditches constructed for mining 
purposes, making a total length of more than four 
thousand eight hundred and fifty miles in length. Be- 
side these, there are six hundred and seventy ditches 
constructed for irrigation in the agricultural regions, 
extending their waters to more than seventy thousand 
acres of land. 

OTHER MINERALS BESIDE GOLD AND SILVER. 

AspJialhmi — Which is a kind of tarry substance, 
issues from the ground in great quantities along the 
sea-coast in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. 
When mixed with sand and other ingredients, it is ex- 
tensively used for roofing houses and making sidewalks 
in cities. 

Borax. — The most extensive borax deposits in the 
world are in California. The chief supply is obtained 
from the bottom of a small lake in Lake county. 

Cement — Of a very good quality and in considerable 
quantity is obtained at several points in the State. 

Coal. — Within a few years past coal has been dis- 
covered in several parts of the State ; but so far the 
only mines worked to any extent are the mines in 
Monte Diablo, in Contra Costa county, directly east of 
San Francisco, and the Coos Bay mines, in Klamath 
county, near the Oregon State line. 

Copper. — ^The principal copper mines of California 



278 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

are located at Copperopolis, Calaveras county. This 
locality, as well as many others in California, is rich in 
copper ; but, owing to the high price of labor, lack of 
cheap transportation, and the low prices of copper in 
foreign markets, these mines have not been renumera- 
tive, but, on the contrary, have generally proven disas- 
trous to all engaged in them. 

Cobalt a7id Nickle. — These minerals have been found 
in small quantities in Placer county and in other parts 
of the State. 

Diamonds. — In Amadore and other counties, in the 
western slope of the Sierras, diamonds have been found, 
but they are rare and of inferior quality. Miners have 
found them generally in cleaning up their sluices. None 
of them have the brilliancy of a first-class diamond. A 
few have been found of fair quality and worth from 
thirty dollars to sixty dollars each. 

Electro-Silicon. — This is a chalk-like mineral found 
in great quantities in El Dorado county and also in the 
State of Nevada. It is used in cleaning silverware and 
metals of every description : it imparts a glossy polish 
and fine burnish to the finest gold and silver. It is the 
best known article in use for polishing metals, is largely 
in use in the State, and must eventually find a market 
in other quarters. 

Gypsum — Has been discovered in considerable quan- 
tities in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties. 

Iron. — Many parts of the State have shown favorable 
indications of deposits of iron ore ; but so far no mine 
of rich ore has been opened, nor any work done to 
justify the belief that the State has any iron deposits to 
equal those of the Atlantic States. Lake, Santa Clara, 



MINES AND MINING. 279 

Butte, Placer, Calaveras, and Sierra counties have shown 
good indications of iron. 

Lead. — Lead is abundant on the Pacific coast — Ari- 
zona, Nevada, and California having it in great abun- 
dance. Santa Catalina island, off the coast of Santa 
Barbara county, abounds in this mineral. Extensive 
lead-works at San Francisco receive full supply of ore 
from various directions on the coast. 

Petroleum. — Petroleum of an inferior quality has been 
discovered In many parts of California from the north- 
ern to the southern extremity of the State. So far its 
discovery has been confined to the Coast Range of 
mountains and to the counties of Kern, Humboldt, 
Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. 

Plathumt and Plumbago. — These minerals are found 
in many places throughout the State ; the former in 
small quantities only, but the latter in abundance in 
Mariposa, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Los Angeles 
counties. 

Quicksilver, — California produces more .quicksilver 
than any other country In the world. The principal 
supply is derived from the famous New Almaden mine. 
In Santa Clara county, about thirteen miles southeast 
of the town of San Jose. This mine has been worked 
constantly since 1850, having produced about forty 
million pounds since that period, without any signs of 
decrease in the yield. Beside this mine there are others 
in the State from which a considerable quantity of quick- 
silver is obtained — the New Idria, Guadalupe, Red* ig- 
ton, and San Juan Bautlsta. Besides supplying the 
home market with the large amount of quicksilver used*^ 
in mining and for other purposes, all the Pacific States 
and Territories derive their supply from California, and 



280 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

great quantities, shipped annually to Australia, South 
and Central America, the Atlantic States, Great Britain, 
China, and Japan, are obtained in these mines. 

Salt. — There is a good supply of salt In California. 
In some of the southern counties of the State great 
deposits are found in the beds of ancient lakes which 
have been dried up for centuries. In Los Angeles, 
Alameda, and other counties, large quantities of salt 
are made by ditching and confining the salt water until 
solar evaporation carries off the water, leaving a crystal 
deposit upon the bottom. Alameda county alone pro- 
duces more than ten thousand tons annually. Great 
quantities of salt are annually imported into the State 
from Carmen island and Europe. Immense beds of 
salt are found in Nevada and Utah, and mountains 
of excellent salt in Arizona, and Oregon has several 
valuable salt-springs. 

Sulphur. — Sulphur of a superior quality Is found In 
great abundance in California, the chief supply being 
obtained in Lake, Sonoma, and Colusa counties. It has 
been lately discovered in the counties of Klamath, Kern, 
Napa, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. The powder 
works in the State receive their supply In the State. 

Tin. — The only tin -mines yet discovered in the 
United States are in the southern part of California. 
The San Jacinto tin company have fifty-three distinct 
lodes In one small district in San Bernardino county. 
Many of these lodes are very rich in mineral ; but, 
owing to the low price of tin (forty cents per pound) 
and the high price of labor, work has been suspended 
after the company having produced many tons of a 
superior article of tin. There are also tin-mines in Los 
Angeles and San Diego counties and other portions of 



MINES AND MINING. 251 

the southern part of the State. The first development 
of tin in the State was in 1868. 

Maj^ble and Granite. — Marble and granite of good 
quality is found in many parts of the State. The chief 
granite quarries are in Sacramento county, at the town 
of Folsom. Marble of good quality and different varie- 
ties is found in Plumas, El Dorado, Tuolumne, Butte, 
Salano, Amadore, and Placer counties. The greater 
part of the marble, however, used in the State is im- 
ported direct from Italy. 

Caves. — Among the natural wonders of California, 
the Alabaster cave of El Dorado stands prominent. 
This cave, which is the only one of note in tie State, 
was discovered in April, i860. The cave consists of a 
number of chambers or rooms, the main entrance to 
which is a tunnel-like aperture in the side of a moun- 
tain of white limestone. The interior of this cave is 
beautiful beyond description, and consists of a series of 
chambers of various sizes, shapes, and colors. The first 
chamber reached on entering is about twenty-five feet 
in length and seventeen feet in width, varying from five 
to twelve feet in height. Passing through this apart- 
ment, the Dungeon of Enchantment is reached — a cham- 
ber of one hundred and twenty feet in length and 
seventy feet in width, and from five to twenty feet in 
height. Here the luxuriant and exquisite decoration 
of nature strikes the vision of the beholder. Pendent 
from roof and walls are beautiful stalactites in every 
variety of form and shade of color, from bright coral to 
milk-white, most exquisitely wrought by the hand of 
nature into the most fantastic foliage and charming 
crystallizations, representing trees, plants, flowers, and 



282 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Jeaves, casting their shadows and brilliant contrasts of 
light and shade, which sparkle and glisten like stars in 
a clear sky or diamonds in fleecy robes of ermine. 
Passing from this apartment, the throne upon which 
is seated nature's grandest effort is reached. Here 
Grecian, Roman, and Italian art pales, and the royal 
pomp and tinsel of the Vatican fades into stiffness and 
disorder: no canopy so gorgeous, no pulpit so eloquent 
as the one from which comes the silent admonition of 
man's inferiority and Jehovah's omnipotence as pro- 
claimed from the Crystal Chapel of this royal apart- 
ment, whose exquisite drapery, fleecy festoonings, and 
silver cords, looped from pillar and dome by the fingers 
of nature, when illuminated with artificial light, render 
Alabaster cave a most charming sight. 

MINING LAWS. 

By the civil law the primary title to all the precious 
metals was vested in the Crown. All gold, silver, and 
precious stones, if in the public domain, belonged to the 
sovereign, and it was long held that even the precious 
metals in the lands of individuals were subject to the 
royal will. In parts of Asia and Europe, all mines of 
precious metals are worked under the direction of the 
monarch, whether in public or private lands ; in other 
parts, the government derives a revenue from all mines 
worked by demanding one-tenth of the product of the 
mine if worked by the owner, and if the mine is worked 
by other than the owner, he pays two-tenths — one to 
the owner and one to the king. 

At this day the prevailing opinion is, that all mines 
of precious metals, wherever situated, are subject to the 
sovereign, that they are a part of the royal patrimony, 



MINES AND MINING. 283 

and necessary as a source of revenue in times of war. 
Laws enforcing this doctrine have been passed by many 
countries of Europe, including Germany, France, and 
Portugal. According to the laws of England, mines of 
gold and silver are termed royal mines ; they are the 
exclusive property of the crown, and a grant of land 
from the king will not pass the title of these mines \n\\\\- 
o\x\. specific zvords divesting the crozvn of title. And this 
doctrine of title to the precious metals Is the law of the 
United States, although no claim has been made by the 
government of the United States to the precious metals 
in the lands of individuals, and in all the States and 
Territories where the precious metals exist the mines 
have been thrown open to every citizen, without re- 
striction or price, to mine w^here he pleased. England, 
too, has adopted this wise policy in reference to Aus- 
tralia, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and other places. 
Within the past few years much anxiety has been 
felt by persons settled upon the mineral lands in Cali- 
fornia and other parts of the United States because they 
could not obtain title to them. These lands were neither 
offered at public sale nor could they be preempted nor 
entered under the homestead laws of the country ; and 
their occupants were but tenants at sufferance of the 
United States. In order to relax these oppressive laws 
and enable the miner to obtain a permanent and com- 
plete title to his mine, Congress enacted the following 
laws, which must stimulate new enterprise In the min- 
eral regions of the whole country : 

THE NATIONAL MINERAL LAND LAW. 
[Approved July 26, 1866.] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, &=€., That the mineral lands of the public 
domain, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be 



284 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

free and open to exploration and occupation by all citizens of the 
United States and those who have declared their intention to become 
citizens, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, 
and subject also to the local customs or rules of miners in the several 
mining districts, so far as the same may not be in conflict with the 
laws of the United States. 

Sec. 2. That whenever any person or association of persons claim 
a vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, 
cinnabar, or copper, having previously occupied and improved the 
same according to the local customs or rules of miners in the dis- 
trict where the same is situated, and having expended in actual 
labor and improvements thereon an amount of not less than one 
thousand dollars, and in regard to whose possession there is no con- 
troversy or opposing claim, it shall and may be lawful for said 
claimant or association of claimants to file in the local land office a 
diagram of the same, so extended laterally or otherwise as to con- 
form to the local laws, customs, and rules of miners, and to enter 
such tract and receive a patent therefor, granting such mine, together 
with the right to follow such vein or lode with its dips, angles, and 
variations, to any depth, although it may enter the land adjoining, 
which land adjoining shall be sold subject to this condition. 

Sec. 3. That upon the filing of the diagram as provided in the 
second section of this act, and posting the same in a conspicuous 
place on the claim, together with a notice of intention to apply for 
a patent, the Register of the Land Office shall publish a notice of 
the same in a newspaper published nearest to the location of said 
claim, and shall also post such notice in his office for the period of 
ninety days; and after the expiration of said period, if no adverse 
claim shall have been filed, it shall be the duty of the Surveyor- 
General, upon application of the party, to survey the premises and 
make a plafc thereof, indorsed with his approval, designating the 
number and description of the location, the value of the labor and 
improvements, and the character of the vein exposed ; and upon the 
payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre, together with 
the cost of such survey, plat, and notice, and giving satisfactory 
evidence that said diagram and notice have been posted on the claim 
during said period of ninety days, the Register of the Land Office 
shall transmit to the General Land, Office said plat, survey, and 
description, and a patent shall issue for the same thereupon. But 



NATIONAL MINING LAW. 28$' 

said plat, survey, or description shall in no case cover more than 
one vein or lode, and no patent shall issue for more than one vein 
or lode, which shall be expressed in the patent issued. 

Sec. 4. That when such location and entry of a mine shall be 
upon unsurveyed land it shall and may be lawful, after the extension 
thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the surveys to the limits of 
the premises according to the location and possession and plat 
aforesaid ; and the Surveyor-General may, in extending the surveys, 
vary the same from a rectangular form to suit the circumstances of 
the country and the local rules, laws, and customs of miners : Pro- 
vided, That no location hereafter made shall exceed two hundred 
feet in length along the vein for each locator, with an additional 
claim for discovery to the discoverer of the lode, with the right to 
follow such vein to any depth, with all its dips, variations, and 
angles, together with a reasonable quantity of surfaces for the con- 
venient working of the same, as fixed by local rules ; And provided 
further, That no person may make more than one location on the 
same lode, and not more than three thousand feet shall be taken in 
any one claim by any association of persons. 

Sec. 5. That, as a further condition of sale, in the absence of 
necessary legislation by Congress, the local Legislature of any State 
or Territory may provide rules for working mines involving ease- 
ments, drainage, and other necessary means to their complete de- 
velopment; and those conditions shall be fully expressed in the 
patent. 

Sec. 6. That whenever any adverse claimants to any mine located 
and claimed as aforesaid shall appear before the approval of the sur- 
vey, as provided in the third section of this act, all proceedings shall 
be stayed until a final settlement and adjudication in the Courts of 
competent jurisdiction of the rights of possession to such claim, when 
a patent may issue as in other cases 

Sec. 7. That the President of the United States be and is hereby 
authorized to establish additional land districts, and to appoint the 
necessary officers under existing laws, whenever he may deem the 
same necessary for the public convenience in executing the provi- 
sions of this act. 

Sec. 8. That the right of way for the construction of highways 
over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted. 

Sec. 9. That whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the 



286 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other pur- 
poses, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and 
acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of 
courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be 
maintained and protected in the same ; and the right of way for the 
construction of ditches and canals for the purpose aforesaid is hereby 
acknowledged and confirmed : Provided, however, That whenever, 
after the passage of this act, any person or persons shall, in the con- 
struction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possession of 
any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury 
or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or 
damage. 

Sec. io. That whenever, prior to the passage of this act, upon 
the lands heretofore designated as mineral land, which have been 
excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by 
citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their 
intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been made, 
improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there 
have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper 
discovered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the said set- 
tlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of preemption 
thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to 
exceed one hundred and sixty acres; or said parties may avail 
themselves of the provisions of the act of Congress, approved May 
20, 1862, entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers 
on the public domain," and acts amendatory thereof. 

Sec. II. That upon the survey of the lands aforesaid, the Secre- 
tary of the Interior may designate and set apart such portions of 
the said lands as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall 
thereafter be subject to preemption and sale as other public lands 
of the United States, and subject to all the laws and regulations 
applicable to the same. 

The manner of acquiring- title to and possession of 
the mines of CaHfornia and other parts of the country- 
has been very simple. On the miner discovering a 
location that presented inducements sufficient to war- 
rant labor he measured off a "claim." If no "district" 



MINING LAWS. 28/ 

had already been formed, a meeting of die miners "in. 
camp" was called and a recorder elected, whose busi- 
ness it was to reside in the vicinity and keep a book in 
which he would make a record of all mines "located" 
in the district. At this meetingr the size of the claim to 
be held, the amount of labor to be performed in order 
to hold the mine, and all other rules necessary to the 
mining interests of the district were passed; and these, 
if not in violation of statute law, or the Constitution of 
the State, were recognized as law in each mining dis- 
trict, and courts acted upon and recognized them as 
binding upon all concerned. When a claim was located, 
a written nodce would be posted on one corner upon a 
stake driven in the ground; this notice giving the name 
of the owner or owners, with the size and courses of 
the claim, and the "laws" of the district gave the miner 
title to either work or sell his claim. 

Titles under these regulations have constituted the 
sole right to all the mines in the States and Territories 
of the Pacific coast prior to the act of Congress of 
1866; and, as comparatively few have sought title to 
their mines under this act, the great body of mines in 
the country are held, worked, and sold under these 
primitive laws of the miners. In all the States and 
Territories the Legislatures have enacted laws in har- 
mony with the interests of the miners, and conforming 
as nigh as possible to the general features of the mining 
rules and prevailing custom of the miners. 

Through the mining regions of the country agricul- 
ture and every other branch of industry is subordinate 
to mining: mills, dwellings, streets, churches, factories, 
orchards, gardens, wheat-fields, and even the grave- 
yard, are invaded by the shovel, pick, and sluice of the 



288 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

miner, custom and law recognizing his right to pursue 
the precious metals wherever he can find them on the 
public domain, being responsible only for actual dam- 
ages to individual property. 

In conformity with the liberal institutions of the 
United States, the government has from the earliest 
period thrown open her mineral lands to the free and 
unrestricted use of all persons residing in the country, 
without exacting a fee, royalty, or tax of any descrip- 
tion; but, in the law of 1866, it is provided that citizens 
only, or persons having made a declaration of intention 
of citizenship, can obtain 2. fee simple title to mines. 

Many of the States and Territories, regardless of 
the title of the United States to the mines within their 
limits, have enacted laws taxing aliens employed in 
mining either on their own account or for others. A 
statute of California imposed a tax of four dollars per 
month upon each alien engaged in mining for gold or 
silver in the State. The law, however, was not gener- 
ally enforced, except upon the Chinese, great numbers 
of whom are engaged in working over the mines long 
since deserted by the whites. Generally, throughout 
all the States and Territories, any white man could 
work the mines without molestation or tax. In some 
mining districts of California, and other parts of the 
Pacific coast, there were laws prohibiting aliens from 
holding mines in their own names; but such instances 
were rare, and were intended to discourage Chinese 
miners only. 

The recent amendments to the Federal Constitution, 
and the laws of the National Congress declaring and 
guaranteeing to every person residing in the republic, 
regardless of birthplace or nationality, equal rights be- 



MINING LAWS. 289 

fore and equal protection of the laws, have rendered 
void the State and mining-district laws imposing a tax 
upon or prohibiting any class of persons from any of 
the rights or privileges enjoyed by others; and, in 1870, 
put an end to the collection of the foreign miners' tax 
in all parts of the country. The laws of most countries 
prohibit aliens from mining except by license or permit 
from constituted authority, and few, if any, nations in 
the world will permit an alien to obtain a fee simple to 
mineral lands. A royal decree of the King of Spain, 
published in the year 1783, and still in force in the 
republic of Mexico, contains the following clause: 

"Chapter VII, Section i. To all the subjects in my dominions, 
both in Spain and the Indies, of whatever rank and condition they 
may be, I grant the mines of every species of metal, under the 
conditions already stated or that shall be expressed hereafter; but I 
prohibit foreigners from acquiring or working mines as their own. 
property in these my dominions, unless they be naturalized or tol- 
erated therein by my express royal license." 

As an illustration of the decline of mininof in the in- 
terior, and of the growing disinclination to collect a. 
mining tax, even of the Chinese miners, the amount of 
taxes collected during the past few years will serve. 
The amount of foreign miners' license collected, during 
the year 1868, in California, was ^60,443; while the 
amount collected in 1869 was but ^11,840.20: but a 
trifle over one-fifth of the amount collected in the pre- 
ceding year. 

PHYSICAL STRUCTURE. 

The physical structure of California clearly indicates 
the volcanic origin of the Sierras ; and the great mineral- 
producing belt, stretching from Cape Horn to Behring 

strait, and the sudden eruptions in the Andes, Hawaiian. 
19 



290 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

islands, Iceland's Geysers, and Mount Hood, demon- 
strate that the interior forces which pushed up Mount 
Shasta, and elevated the Sierras from mother earth's 
bosom, still have an existence. The treasure of Peru, 
Chili, Central America, Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, 
Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washing- 
ton Territory, British Columbia, and Alaska, all belong 
to the great mother vein whose rich mineral deposits 
of gold and silver give more mineral wealth than all 
the rest of the world. 

In California, the gold and silver producing range is 
chiefly confined to the Sierras, which, on their eastern 
:side, throw out the immense silver wealth of Nevada, 
:aind, upon their western slope, hold in their stern granite 
embrace the gold of California. The Coast Range, 
extending the length of the State, and forming a chain 
along the sea-coast of from eight to twenty miles in 
width, possesses none of the precious metals, except in 
a few places where detached portions of the Sierras 
have been carried toward the west, or where spurs of 
this chain push down to the sea, as they do in Del 
Norte and San Diego counties. But, although the 
precious metals are not found in the Coast Range to 
any great extent, other minerals of value are found 
there in great abundance — coal, copper, tin, quicksilver, 
lead, asphaltum, borax, sulphur, salt, alum, arsenic, 
antimony, gypsum, epsom salts, petroleum, soda, and 
many others. 

The valley formation of California consists of a deep 
loam and sand, with but little clay. In portions of the 
valleys a black, tough adobe soil is found : it is very 
productive, but being generally in low places, where 
the water stands until late in the spring, it is either too 



PHYSICAL STRUCTURE. 



291 



wet for cultivation or, when the waters leave it, bakes 
and cracks with the heat of the sun. Through portions 
of the low foot-hills tough clay is found ; in other por- 
tions of the foot-hills, sandy and gravelly ridges of little 
value. But the greater part of the foot-hills and the 
slopes of the Sierras are fit for cultivation, and contain 
the best grape and fruit lands in the State. Along the 
chief rivers, bays, and sloughs of the State, vast areas 
are overflowed with salt water, or with the water from 
rivers and interior lakes ; and, toward the southeastern 
portion of the State, the beds of ancient lakes, sandy 
and alkaline deserts, occupy a considerable space. 



292 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Climate — Seasons — Heat and cold — Winter in the Sierras — Trade- 
winds — Animal vitality — Summer in the Sierras and valleys — 
Rain-fall compared with other parts of the world — Flowers of the 
valleys — Spring-time — Wheat-fields — Agriculture — Harvesting — 
Planting and sowing — Volunteer crops — Straw-burning — Storms 
and hurricanes — Sand storms. 

CLIMATE AND SEASONS. 

No State in the Union nor country in the world pos- 
sesses such diversity of cHmate as CaHfornia. Within 
her Hmits can be found the genial rays of the tropical 
sun, the fogs and damps of England, and the eternal 
snows of the Alps, with every shade and degree of tem- 
perature between these degrees blended into each other 
and extending their duration through every month in 
the year. Throughout the vast agricultural valleys 
and Coast Range regions the climate is most genial: 
frost and snow are rarely seen, and time seems to pass 
in the uninterrupted course of protracted summer. 
Autumn may bring its golden harvest, winter its re- 
freshing showers, spring its verdure, and summer its 
heat; but all these are so blended and portions of each 
season carried into the others that it may be said that, 
with the exception of the Sierra mountains, the climate 
of California is perpetual summer. Wheat-fields green 
in January, in head in March, and ripe in June ; vege- 
tables growing every day in the year ; new potatoes in 
February and strawberries in March ; tender lambs 
gambolling upon the sward in December and January ; 
and sheep-shearing in February and March, may indi- 
cate the genial climate of a land whose clear sky, invig- 



CLIMATE AND SEASONS. 



293 



orating atmosphere, and hearty, genial people are never 
forgotten by those who have ever lived in the country — 
a region always to be spoken of as the beautiful sunny 
land, whose gorgeous verdure, rich soil, variegated 
forests, unsurpassed productiveness, and joyous crystal 
streams whose dimpled currents are never congealed 
by the pinching frosts of winter, render California a 
land most desirable for the abode of man. 

California beyond doubt is the favorite spot of earth, 
where nature has dealt her bounties with most lavish 
hand to proclaim her supreme power and adorn most 
luxuriantly her footstool — a land whose wheat-fields 
of June, clustering grapes of October, and orange groves 
of February are presided over by the gentle Ceres, who, 
no longer dreading the abduction of her daughter, the 
fair Proserpine, by the ungailant Pluto, has chosen her 
terrestrial abode in the sunny land of California. 

The climate of California may be divided into three 
classes : that of the Coast Range, of the interior valleys, 
and of the Sierras. The climate of the coast and about 
San Francisco is perhaps the most evenly tempered 
in the world — cool, invigorating, and embracing. This 
evenness of climate and temperature extends the whole 
length of the State, with but little variation during the 
year. At San Francisco, which locality can be taken as 
indicating the average of the coast temperature, the 
average of winter is 52°, and of summer 64°, and the 
annual average about 56°. The lowest point reached 
at San Francisco during the past twenty-one years was 
in January, 1864, when the thermometer descended to 
25° at the coldest time during the twenty-four hours, 
and stood at 37° at noon on the same occasion. During 
the same period (twenty-one years) the hottest days 



294 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



were on the loth and nth of September, 1852, when 
the thermometer indicated 97° and 98°. Other hot days 
have been experienced at San Francisco, but none to 
equal the time mentioned in 1852. In July, 1855, the 
thermometer reached 90°, and in October, 1864, and 
September, 1865, reached 91°. The next highest point 
was reached on the 6th of July, 1867, when the ther- 
mometer indicated 93°. Such extremes are very rare, 
as well as the extreme of the mercury falling below the 
freezing point at or south of San Francisco. Indeed, 
at and south of this point, the climate may be termed 
perpetual summer; flower gardens, shrubs, and grass 
being as verdant and fragrant in January as in June. 

The seasons in California seem to be the reverse of 
the seasons in any other part of the world. December, 
at which time the rains have fully set in and the season 
when winter develops its severity in most parts of the 
world, and the succeeding months until May are termed 
winter, or the " rainy season," in California. About the 
middle of November the rains begin to fall in the valleys, 
and the Sierras receive their new fleecy robes of winter, 
the skirts of which grow thin and ragged as they reach 
down the western foot-hills of the Sierra range, until 
they entirely disappear at the edge of the green sward, 
where under the same sun, and in the same latitude 
and longitude, the icicle and the honeysuckle struggle 
for the mastery — where the cold fingers of winter 
pinch the blooming cheeks of spring. During this 
period, and while the tall pines groan under their burden 
of snow, and the fierce gales sweep over the jagged 
peaks of the Sierras, and the miner seeks the shelter 
of his log-cabin, makes his tedious journey up the moun- 
tain sides with his broad snow-shoes, or, with sledded 



CLIMATE AND SEASONS. 295 

feet, sweeps down the crusted glade, in the valley below 
the farmer guides the plow, tender shoots of buds and 
grass welcome the refreshing showers, and waving 
fields of grain, blossoms, spreading trees, and warbling 
birds proclaim the presence of spring. Through the 
winter months, or rainy season, farmers put in all their 
seed : wheat, barley, and oats are sown from November 
to May, but the greater part of the grain is sown before 
the end of February ; generally the early sown grain 
produces the most abundant harvests, and grain sown 
in November and December requires but about one- 
half of the seed of that sown later In the season, 

California during the rainy season Is exempt from 
the prevailing summer winds which sweep in from the 
Pacific ocean, and the whole country west of the Sierras 
and to the ocean is mantled in green. It must not be 
understood that it rains all the time during the rainy 
season : on the contrary, the weather is very fine, not 
raining more than one day out of four, and a great 
portion of the time the sun shines bright, the air is 
balmy, and altogether the weather is beautiful ; and 
what seems most strange is, that the rain falls generally 
at night. Throughout this season the air is so balmy 
that men work in the fields and in shops and stores In 
their shirt-sleeves, and throughout the whole State, 
with the exception of the Sierra range, in winter the 
doors of stores and other buildino-s are never closed, 
and in many instances the whole fronts of establish- 
ments are open and goods displayed in great profu- 
sion, giving an oriental aspect to the business marts of 
the country. 

Once or twice during each winter, ice, the thickness 
of window-glass, forms at and about San Francisco, and 



296 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

white frost is often visible ; but persons who do not 
rise early may live a lifetime in California without seeing 
ice, frost, or snow, unless the snowy caps of the moun- 
tains are visible. 

Winter even in its intensest form in California is not 
' severe, and even the dreaded Sierras, which have been 
the theme of unguarded writers, and represented as a 
chain of relentless icebergs, are mild in comparison 
with the winters of New York, New England, and 
Canada : the severest weather of midwinter is not so 
cold in the Sierras as the weather of the early part of 
the month of March in New York. 

Snow falls to a great depth on the Sierras — from 
three to thirty feet ; but much of the lowlands and 
valleys of this range receive but little snow, and cattle 
in some instances live in the mountains the year round 
without the aid of man. 

The area of California is so great and the climate so 
diversified at the different localities, even at the same 
season of the year, that a few hours travel at any time 
will carry a person into a variety of climates. For a 
distance interiorwards of fifty miles from the ocean, 
along the length of the State, it is damp and cool, with 
high winds during the entire summer months. During 
the latter part of each day during this season (June, 
July, August, September, and October) immense clouds 
and banks of fog roll up from the Pacific ocean before 
a stiff westerly breeze, keeping every thing in the tier 
of coast counties damp and their population clad in 
warm garments ; while the interior valley counties are 
parched, and their inhabitants, in thin linen, are stewing 
in fretful unrest and perspiration. 

In the interior valley counties hay is cut in May and 



CLIMATE AND SEASOA'S. 297 

grain in June; while in the Coast Range, owing to the 
cold prevailing northwest winds and the fogs, hay is not 
cut until June and July, and the grain crop is from two 
to five weeks later than in the interior. It is these 
prevailing winds and fogs passing through the Golden 
Gate and breaking over the city of San Francisco that 
keep the inhabitants of that city through the summer 
months clad in heavy woollens and furs, and their 
throats and lungs irritated with severe colds, while they 
struororle amidst whirlwinds thick with dust and fogf. 

The prevailing or trade-winds of the coast generally 
begin to be felt in June and continue until October. 
During this period it is generally calm through the 
nights and until the middle of the day; at about noon 
the winds set in stronpf, and from that time until sunset 
it blows a gale; with the setting of the sun it grows 
calm again, and continues so until the late forenoon of 
the following day. 

During the dry season, and while the entire coast-line 
for from ten to thirty miles interiorwards is enveloped 
in fog and bathed in mist, the climate of the interior 
valleys is intensely dry and hot. In the San Joaquin, 
Sacramento, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Napa valleys, 
neither the fogs nor the prevailing winds of the Coast 
Range are felt. 

Throughout the long summer, while the population 
of the Coast Rang-e lives amidst fleeting clouds of foQf 
that sweep across and often obscure the sun, inside the 
fog range, through the great interior valleys and up 
into the foot-hills of the Sierras, the sun pours down 
his rays in uninterrupted golden floods, parching the 
earth, which, for six months — from May to November 
— does not receive a drop of rain, nor even does a 



298 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

cloud obscure the sun for a moment, which, through all 
the long" days of summer, from early morning until the 
close of day, sweeps like a flame of fire across the 
horizon. So great is the heat that, during the middle 
of each day, vegetation is as if scorched, and droops, 
limber and wilted; but with the setting of the sun the 
air becomes cool, and the night, which is almost cold, 
brings with it copious dews, which invigorate vegeta- 
tion and refresh all animate life, so that the coolness 
of the nights counteracts the great heat of the day; 
and, although the thermometer stands often at 80°, 
100°, and even 120°, in the shade, and the air is so hot 
that it seems to burn the lungs and throat in inhaling 
it, yet neither man nor beast seems to be oppressed nor 
to relax their vigor, but each performs his labor with 
unabated vitality. Cattle and horses taken from the 
plow are not jaded and panting with fatigue, and a 
California horse under the saddle will carry his rider 
eighty, a hundred, and even a hundred and twenty miles 
in a day, often over a rough country, and continue his 
journey at these rates of speed for many days in suc- 
cession. 

However hot the air, it is not oppressive, and men 
working in the mines, gulches, and fields under a 
scorching sun do not experience fatigue; and there 
being no such thing as a hot night known in California, 
none of the inconveniences of hot weather, such as are 
experienced in other quarters, are felt here. 

The cool nights, bracing atmosphere, genial climate, 
nourishing food, and pure water of California infuse a 
physical vitality into all animate nature not equalled on 
any other part of the globe : beyond all question man 
and beast, the year through, possess from twenty- 



CLIMATE AND SEASONS. 



299 



five to fifty per cent, more motive power than is pos- 
sessed by man or beast elsewhere. 

Disease among horses and cattle is almost unknown 
in California, and few of the complaints that cripple and 
render horses useless in other countries are ever seen 
here: ringbone and spavin are unheard of, and a 
sickly, thin horse is a thing rarely to be met with. On 
the contrary, horses are healthy, well-knit, and muscu- 
lar, with great spirit and vitality. The fleet-footed 
Spanish or half-breed horse of California, with muscle 
of iron, foaming mouth, dilating nostril, and flaming 
eye, Is the pride of the horseman. 

Winter In the Sierras has already been described. 
But the reader must not suppose that summer does not 
smile in these aerial regions : here to the beauties of 
the climate of the valleys are added dense forests, luxu- 
riant foliage, green meadows, and crystal streams. By 
the first of May, the snows have disappeared from the 
whole range except a few patches high up among the 
rocky peaks and in the deep clefts on the northern 
slope of the mountains. The air is balmy, mild, and 
refreshing. As summer passes and the valleys below 
are parched, these mountains still retain their verdure, 
and through the long, hot summers of the valleys the 
Sierras are ?reen, their forests musical with sinorlnor 
birds, and their lakes and natural wonders the resort 
of thousands of the pleasure-seeking inhabitants of the 
dusty plains. 

The Sierras are by no means a rocky and sterile 
waste : their lofty granite domes and scarred precipi- 
tous walls are uninviting as the home of man ; but a 
great portion of this range consists of rich valleys and 
rolling hills, where meadows, waving fields of grain, and 



300 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

luxuriant grapes and fruits surround the many happy 
homes, whose prosperity attests the value of the Sierras 
as a future place of permanent abode. Rich meadows 
of great extent are nestled in among the mountains of 
the Sierra range, and great quantities of natural hay are 
annually cut. The wide pasture-range of the Sierras 
serves as a most welcome retreat to the famished 
cattle and sheep of the dusty valleys, which in great 
numbers are driven up from the parched plains during 
the summer months. 

As the heat of summer differs in different parts of 
the State, so the rainfall is graduated, and differs in ex- 
tent, decreasing in regular order from north to south, 
only about one-half as much rain falling at San Diego 
as at San Francisco, and about half as much at San 
Francisco as at Humboldt. The annual rainfall at 
San Diego is ten and a-half inches; at Monterey, twelve 
inches; while at San Francisco it is twenty-one and 
a-half inches; Humboldt, thirty-four and a-half inches; 
at Astoria, Oregon, it is eighty-six and a-half inches; 
Steilacoom, Washington Territory, fifty-two inches ; and 
at Sitka, ninety inches. This latter is perhaps as large 
an average rainfall as is found in any part of the world. 
There are points in the interior of California where as 
high as one hundred and forty inches have fallen in a 
single year, but of course the average is much less. 
The annual rainfall at Sacramento is eiofhteen and 
a-quarter inches; at Benicia, twenty-three inches; at 
Stockton, sixteen inches. The smallest rainfall in the 
State of California, if not in the United States, is at 
Fort Yuma, on the western bank of the Colorado, and in 
the extreme southeastern corner of the State: three and 
a-quarter inches is the average annual fall at this point. 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL. 



301 



A comparison between the rainfall of California and 
other parts of the world may be interesting to the 
reader. At Cincinnati the annual fall is eighty-six and 
a-quarter inches; Bordeaux, thirty-four inches; Ma- 
deira, thirty nine inches; Liverpool, thirty-four inches; 
Paris, twenty-two and a-half inches; Rome, thirty-one 
inches; Portland, Maine, forty -five and a-quarter 
inches; New York city, forty-three and a-half inches; St. 
Louis, forty-two inches; New Orleans, fifty-one inches; 
Portsmouth, N, H., thirty-six inches; Boston, Mass., 
thirty-five inches; Newport, R. I., fifty-two inches; Fort 
Pike, La., seventy-two inches; Vancouver, Washington 
Territory, forty-five inches; Fort Conrad, New Mexico, 
six and three-quarter inches. 

It will be seen from the figures here given that the 
rainfall of California is less than one-half of the averag-e 
fall of the Atlantic States, and one-third less than the 
average fall of the great wine-producing regions of 
Europe ; about equal to that of Paris, and less than 
Liverpool and Rome ; and Oregon, noted for its rainy 
winters, averages only about as much as the central 
portion of the Atlantic States. 

The following table will show the annual rainfall at 
San Francisco for each year during the past twenty- 
three years, and the fall of each rainy season: 



SEASON. RAIN. 

1849-50, 33.10 

1850-51, 7.18 

1851-52, 19.25 

1852-53, 33.20 

1853-54. 23-87 

1854-55. 23.68 

1855-56, 21.66 

1856-57, 19.88 



▼EAR. KAIW. 

1849, 18.00 

1850, 2.30 

I85I, 15.12 

1852, 25.60 

1853. 19-03 

1854, 22.12 

1855, 27.80 

1856, 22.01 



302 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



SBASOM. RAIN. 

1857-58, 21.81 

1858-59, 22.22 

1859-60, 22.27 

1860-61, I9'72 

1861-62, 49-27 

1862-63, 13.62 

1863-64, 10.08 

1864-65, 24.73 

1865-66, 22.93 

1866-67, 33.84 

1867-68, 40.05 

1868-69, 21.06 

1869-70, 20.08 

1870-71, 14.47 

1871-72, 27.09 



YEAR. 
1857, 
1858, 

i859» 
i860, 
1861, 
1862, 



RAIN. 

20-55 
•19.64 

18.03 

16.15 

18.43 
28.29 



1863, 16.68 

1864, 18.55 

1865, 10.50 

1866, 32.98 

1867, 33.00 

1868, 28.23 

1869, 23.18 

1870, 15.57 

1871, 23.12 



Within the limits of California almost every degree 
of temperature and climate can be found. A few hours 
ride from San Francisco, in winter, will bring the trav- 
eller from blooming beds of flowers into the midst of 
mountains of snow; so, in summer, two hours travel 
will lead you from the strong, cool, bracing winds and 
dense fogs of the coast line into the intense heat of the 
valleys, and a few hours later you can bathe your tem- 
ples in the snows of the Sierras and the icy waters of 
Lake Tahoe ; or, travelling south, you will reach the 
alkaline flats of Death valley, and the burning sands 
of Fort Yuma — the hottest spot on the American con- 
tinent, if not the hottest in the world, where the average 
annual temperature is *]2!^ in the shade, the thermometer 
often standing 1 20° in the shade for a month at a time. 

The evenness of the temperature of California as a 
whole is unsurpassed on the globe, except in one or 
two instances ; and the mean temperature of San Fran- 
cisco shows a climate varying but two degrees on an 



CLIMATE AND TEMPERATURE. 3O3 

average of the twelve months of the year — the average 
of January being 49°, and of June 56°, the annual 
average being 54°. Fort Yuma, at the junction of the 
Gila and Colorado rivers, has a temperature in June of 
87°, and in January of 56°, and an annual temperature 
of 1Z°'^ Sacramento has a temperature in June of 71°, 
and in January of 45°, with an annual temperature of 59°. 

Steilacoom, Washington Territory, has a temperature 
in June of 60°, and of 38° in January, and an annual 
temperature of 50° ; the city of Mexico has a tempera- 
ture in June of 65°, and in January of 52°, and an annual 
temperature of 60°; New York, 6*]° in June, and 31° 
in January, and an annual temperature of 51°; New 
Orleans, 81° in June, and 55° in January, and an annual 
temperature of 69°; Honolulu, ^l"^ in June, 71° in Jan- 
uary, and an annual temperature of 75°; London, 58° 
in June, 37° in January, and an annual temperature of 
49° ; Naples, 70° in June, 46° in January, and an annual 
temperature of 60° ; Funchal, 6']'^ in June, 60° in Jan- 
uary, and an annual temperature of 65°; Canton, 81° 
in June, 52° in January, and an annual temperature of 
69° ; Nagaski, ']']° in June, 43° in January, and an annual 
temperature of 62° ; Jerusalem, 71° in June, 47° in Jan- 
uary, and an annual temperature of 62°. 

It will be observed that the climate of California 
resembles closely the favored lands of the olive, the fig, 
and the orange ; and that the climate of San Francisco 
approaches regularity the year round, with greater 
similarity than any place named except Honolulu and 
Funchal, and that Naples itself is surpassed by the 
beautiful regular climate of the great interior valleys of 
California, which, up to the fordeth parallel, (the south- 
ern line of Humboldt county,) has the annual average 



304 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

(60°) of Asia Minor, Central Italy, Spain, and Northern 
Syria; while the southern limit of the State, in the 
vicinity of San Diego and in the direction of the Colo- 
rado and Gila, has the mean annual temperature of 
Cairo (70°) and the northern portion of Africa; and in 
portions of the San Joaquin valley, Death valley, and the 
sandy deserts of the southern side of San Bernardino 
county, adjoining Arizona Territory, we have the sum- 
mer climate of the Great Desert of Sahara. 

California, in the early part of May, is the loveliest 
spot on earth : the deep rich soil of the valleys and the 
sides of the hills, as far as the eye can reach, wave with 
luxuriant wheat, barley, and oats bursting into head; 
while all the untilled land — valley, hills, and even the 
steep mountain sides — are covered with wild oats, and 
variegated flowers of every tint and hue, pink and 
orange being the predominant colors. Hundreds of 
thousands of acres, bedecked in the charming robes of 
spring, whose golden fleece is unbroken by a single 
tree, rock, or other obstruction, roll in seeming undu- 
lating waves until their outlines are lost in the distance. 

It was over these charming valleys — a terrestrial 
paradise — that the eye of the pious missionary father 
wandered, as the tattooed aborigines lazily wended their 
way from their mountain homes to the foot of the cross. 
Here the vaquero coursed upon his fleet steed, as he cir- 
cled the countless herds, ere the invading hand of agri- 
culture turned the furrow, or the husbandman broke the 
primitive order of nature. 

California is eminently a land of flowers, and if the 
invasion of civilization has broken the natural beauty 
of the vast valleys and rolling hills by the uniformity of 
wheat-fields, vineyards, orchards, and flower-gardens, it 



SOIL AND AGRICULTURE. 305 

has introduced scientifiG Industry, refinement, and happy 
homes, whose intelligent occupants subdue the sterile 
sand-hills of San Francisco and the arid plains of the 
interior, where the domestic comforts of home are in 
strong contrast with the pastoral semi-barbarous lives 
of the early Spanish settlers of the country, and the 
perpetual bloom of the rose, lily, and honeysuckle, so 
abundant every month in the year, will compensate for 
the partial loss of the wild flowers of the vale. 

May is the most charming month in the year in Cali- 
fornia : the last showers of spring Invigorate vegeta- 
tion ; wheat is in head, orchards in bloom, every thing 
green, bright, and clean ; haying is vigorously prose- 
cuted. By the end of May the wild flowers disappear, 
and June ushers in harvest, with rustling fields of 
wheat. At this time grass and flowers are all dried up, 
and the whole face of the country wears a browned and 
parched appearance except the oaks, orchards, and 
vineyards, which latter retain their verdure until No- 
vember. > The grass, which during the dry season seems 
parched, retains all Its strength, and Instead of being 
dead is only cured by the sun, affording nutritious 
pasturage until the fall rains destroy it and start the 
new grass. 

The great wheat-crop of California, in some instances 
consisting of ten thousand acres in a single field, is cut 
with reapers of the most approved style. Some of these 
machines clip only the heads off the field, leaving the 
body of the straw standing : the grain in this form is 
carried directly to the thresher, which is located in the 
open field ; here it is threshed, and put in sacks of 
about two hundred pounds each. The long-continued 
dry season has thoroughly dried the grain on foot, so 



3o6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

that it is ready for the mill, or for shipment in bulk or 
sacks on shipboard to any part of the world. The 
grain once in sacks, it is piled in great heaps upon the 
open field, where it may remain secure from a drop of 
rain until November; or, if it is transported to shipping 
points, it is piled up in great heaps upon the piers and 
wharves until it is shipped. So dry is the grain that it 
can be taken directly from the thresher and shipped to 
Liverpool, China, or Australia without sustaining any 
damage, and the mills in many instances have to 
dampen it before they can grind it into flour. A 
peculiarity of the wheat of California is, that however 
ripe or long it stands in the field it does not shell : the 
little capsule which holds the kernel being strong, and 
not opened by rain or any change in the weather. 

In ordinary seasons enough grain shells in the hand- 
ling to make seed; and, should the ground remain 
unploughed, the rains of winter will beat the grains into 
the mellow earth, and in a short time a spontaneous 
crop will spring up : thus good harvests of grain are 
often obtained for two or three seasons without either 
ploughing or sowing. But sowing every year, with 
deep ploughing and summer fallowing, as in other 
countries, produces the best crops. 

As horses, cattle, and sheep live out in the open fields 
during the entire winter or rainy season, there is no at- 
tention paid to saving straw or fodder of any kind, 
except for the towns and cities ; so that the custom of 
farmers all over the State and in Oregon is, to burn 
the straw upon the field, and during the fall months vast 
fires can be seen consuming the piles of straw where 
the thresher stood, or sweeping the tall stubble from the 
field. 



SOIL AND AGRICULTURE. 307 

Farmers, however, are now beginning to learn the 
folly of consuming what, in seasons of protracted 
drought, and during the long and sometimes cold rains 
of winter, might save their stock from destruction, and 
are abandoning the burning of their straw, collecting 
it into vast piles and stacks, and in some instances 
erecting sheds over it. Here, secure from rain or from 
the scorching heat of summer, cattle will collect and 
feed freely. As the pasturage range is circumscribed 
by fencing and cultivation, the necessity of preserving 
every spear of fodder will press itself upon the intelli- 
gent farmer until the folly of straw-burning will be 
entirely abandoned. 

Storms are very rare on the Pacific coast, and such 
hurricanes as sweep over the Atlantic States and por- 
tions of Europe are unknown. Occasionally a stiff 
northwest breeze is felt along the coast line, and the 
usually tranquil waters of the deep Pacific lash with 
great fury upon the coast. But the interior of the 
whole country, through each month of the year, is calm. 
Along the Coast Range, fir trees, three hundred feet in 
height, toss their lofty heads without the loss of a limb, 
half-decayed trees stand upon their frail pedestals, and 
tenements of light boards are unmoved. Fitful gusts, 
gales, thunder, and hail-storms are unknown. 

During the spring and summer months occasional 
claps of thunder may be heard in the Sierra range; 
but at San Francisco and throughout the body of the 
State thunder is not heard nor lightning seen more 
than once in each three or four years, and then but in 
their feeblest forms. 

In the southeastern portion of the State, where vast 
alkaline and sandy deserts stretch for leagues, what is 



308 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

termed sand storms interrupt the traveller and fill the 
air with clouds of impenetrable dust. These storms 
are of but short duration, but their violence strikes ter- 
ror to man and beast; and when the traveller is over- 
taken by one of these storms, which obscures the sun 
with volumes of dust, blinds the eyes, and cuts the 
cheeks with flying sand and gravel, his progress is im- 
possible: all former signs of roads are obliterated, and 
the only alternative is to come to a halt and with 
blanket, coat, or shawl wrap head, face, and mouth of 
man and beast to prevent suffocation, and lie still until 
the fury of the gale is spent. 



■«■' 

-^i' 



AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. 309 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Agriculture — Manufactures — Commerce — First agriculture in Amer- 
ica — Increase of agriculture in California — Decline of mining — 
Decay of mining towns — Area of California — Agricultural lands — 
Spanish grants — Vast estates — How to obtain public lands — 
School lands — Who may secure the public lands — Grain, fruit, 
and vegetable growing — Yield of grain per acre — Harvesting — 
Wild oats — Wild mustard — Hops — Potatoes — Tobacco — Large 
vegetable growths — Strawberries — Tropical fruits — Oranges, figs, 
and nuts — The grape — Fertility of the Sierras — Tea culture — 
Beet sugar — Cotton and rice — Silk culture. 

From the earliest history of the human race down to 
the present time no pursuit or occupation has so mate- 
rially aided in developing the physical, mental, and 
moral condition of man as that of agriculture. Com- 
merce has brought with it adventure, deception, opu- 
lence, and power: so it has induced craft, dissipation, 
voluptuousness, and vice. Manufactures have stimu- 
lated invention, introduced new and useful commodities, 
and, in some instances, relieved man from oppressive 
physical labor: they have also crowded and huddled 
people together in the unwholesome atmosphere of 
cities and factories, and enfeebled the race in the pur- 
suit of the tinselled display and allurements of wealth. 
Art has beautified the abodes of men, spread the broad 
sails of commerce, and lent a charm to life : so, too, it 
has induced frivolity, and, when uncontrolled, has fear- 
fully pandered to the vices of the times. Science has 
gauged the celestial and terrestrial bodies, measured 
the depths of oceans, the heights of mountains, and the 
degrees of heat and cold ; analyzed the earth, separated 
and purified metals, traversed continents, subdued the 



3IO THE GOLDEN STATE. 

elements, and encircled the globe : but its ever-craving 
necessities and demands multiply the wants and cares 
of man, ever pressing new claims and multiplying the 
wants and labors of the race. All these combined, or 
in their separate influences, have built and fostered our 
large cities — commerce, manufacture, art, and science — 
and our large cities are the nurseries of disease, dissipa- 
tion, idleness, immorality, crime, folly, fashion, and sin, 
whose corrupting currents fill the prisons, asylums, and 
hospitals of the land, and swell from the crowded centres 
of vice until they trench upon the peaceful home of the 
agriculturalist, lashing their pestilential foam from dock, 
garret, cellar, saloon, prison, asylum, and brothel, up to 
the green fields and producing fountains of the physical 
supply of the race — the fields of the farmer ; and as the 
physical existence of the population of both country and 
city depends entirely upon the agricultural regions, so 
the morality, virtue, and patriotism of the nation rely 
upon the pure fountains of the rural districts to supply 
the fast advancing national, social, moral, and physical 
mortality of the crowded cities of the land. 

The ever-changing conditions of man and the vicis- 
situdes of nations, sudden revulsions in trade, and the 
calamities of war, have fully demonstrated that the 
surest foundation of individual and national existence 
and prosperity is agriculture. Without it all else must 
cease. Man may subsist for a brief period by the 
chase, but the game and the hunter alike disappear 
before the invading ploughshare, as is forcibly illus- 
trated in the decline of the aborigfines of America. 

On the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, 
their scanty stores of provisions were quite exhausted, 
and the forests seemed to afford but litde hope of a 



A GRICUL TURE. 3 1 1 

supply of game during the approaching winter or the 
coming spring; and, had it not been for the feeble efforts 
in agriculture practised by the Indians before the arri- 
val of the Mayflower^ the whole colony would have 
perished. 

The historian Moore, in describing the efforts of the 
Pilgrims to penetrate the forest in 1620, says: 

"Here they found a cellar carefully lined with bark, and covered 
with a heap of sand, in which about four bushels of seed-corn in 
ears were well secured. After reasoning on the morality of the 
action, they took as much of the corn as they could carry, intending, 
when they should find the owners, to pay them their satisfaction. 
On the third day they arrived, weary and welcome, where the ship 
lay, and delivered their corn into the common store. The company 
resolved to keep it for seed, and pay the natives the full value when 
they should have opportunity. . . The ground was frozen and cov- 
ered with snow, but the cellars were known by heaps of sand, and 
the frozen earth was penetrated with their swords till they gathered 
corn to the amount of ten bushels. This fortunate supply, with a 
quantity of beans preserved in the same manner, they took on the 
same conditions as before. . . Six months after, they paid the own- 
ers to their satisfaction. The acquisition of this corn they always 
regarded as a peculiar favor from Divine Providence, without which 
the colony could not have subsisted." 

Lord Chatham, in speaking of the noble pursuit of 
agriculture, said: 

"Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country; but its real 
strength and stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of 
the land. In their simplicity of life is found the simpleness of 
virtue, the integrity of courage and freedom. These true, genuine 
souls of the earth are invincible, and they surround and hem in the 
mercahtile bodies, even if these bodies, which supposition I totally 
disclaim, could be supposed disaffected to the cause of liberty." 

From the period in which Adam was tending a gar- 
den, Cain tilling a farm, Abel feeding his flocks, and 



312 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the dove was hovering over the ark, to the present 
period, agriculture has been regarded in all lands as the 
noblest pursuit of man. If England looks to her agri- 
cultural regions for physical and moral support in the 
hour of national danger, and calls for patriotism from a 
peasantry whose tenure of the soil is subject to the will 
of a landlord whose mandates of ouster are executed 
by ejecting wife and child and turning them to the 
mercies of the poor-house, how much more may a 
country look to the tillers of the soil for support where 
every farmer is the absolute owner of the land he culti- 
vates! America does proudly look to her agricultural 
districts as .the great conservator of the moral, physical, 
and political strength of the nation; and to no portion 
can either State or nation look with greater confidence 
than to the rich agricultural regions of California, where 
the farmer is not confined to fifty or a hundred acres, 
but looks out upon his broad domain more vast than 
many of the principalities of Europe, and with a climate, 
soil, and productiveness unsurpassed on the globe. 

With the decline of surface-mining- in California came 
the development of the great agricultural resources of 
the State, and the explosion of the fallacious notions of 
the early settlers that California was a barren waste, 
fit only for the miner or the grazing of flocks. How 
little did these early adventurers dream of the change 
soon to be wrought, of the decay of the mines, and the 
spread of agriculture, whose waving fields of grain, 
vineyards, orchards, fruits, and flowers so enhance the 
value and charms of California! 

Throughout the western slope of the Sierras, the 
foot-hills and ridges, where once were enacted the busy 
scenes of the miner's life, stand marked evidences of 



A GRICUL TURE. 313 

the decline of the precious metals. The scarred brows 
of the mountains, excavations, deep holes, ridges of 
gravel, abandoned tunnels, dilapidated shanties, saw- 
mills, ditches, and flumes, with the general debris of 
abandoned villages and mining-camps, attest the unsub- 
stantial character of mining. 

In many portions of the State, where, but a few years 
ago, towns sprang up as if by magic, and scenes of ex- 
citement, business, and revelry lent a wild charm to the 
busy life of the miner, there is scarcely a sign of life to 
be seen. The wreck of the miner's tent, scattered 
fragments of the frail tenement of the gold-hunter, 
rusty picks, shovels, kettles, and pans attest the decline 
of the earliest industry of the State. Dwellings that 
cost many thousand dollars are worthless and stand un- 
occupied; and the "leading" hotel, once crowded with 
boarders at a dollar a meal and twenty-five cents for 
"drinks," where the good-natured miner and "mountain- 
man" held their midnight orgies, and from which went 
forth the dulcet strains of the violin, mingled with the 
bacchanalian shouts of the riotous throng, is now inhab- 
ited only by birds and beasts. In the language of Cali- 
fornia, these early scenes have "dried up." Long since 
the last door of the hotel has been broken down, and 
its last pane of glass broken by the idle passer-by. 
Hosfs raise their broods in the basement; horses, 
mules, and cows seek shelter in the parlors and bar- 
room ; while sheep and goats clatter up the rickety 
stairs to the "bed-rooms," and owls, hawks, bats, and 
swallows have undisputed possession of garret, eave, 
and chimney. 

The progress and permanent character of the agri- 
cultural regions are strongly contrasted with these 



314 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

scenes. The early abode of the farmer is replaced by 
one of elegance, comfort, and luxury ; waving fields of 
grain stretch out upon all sides, broken only by the 
thrifty orchard, the vineyard, and the clustering roses, 
which lend a sweet charm to the peaceful home where 
the musical -voices of happy children bless the increas- 
ing years of fond parents, and the ripening fruits and 
harvests of a bounteous soil, genial climate, and well- 
spent industry crown with success the labors of the 
tiller of the soil. 

Each succeeding year more distinctly marks the 
boundary between the two pursuits of mining and agri- 
culture : the former, steadily on the decline, leaves but 
a wreck behind, without a shadow of hope for recupera- 
tive energy, and those who follow in its seductive 
allurements generally find their occupation, credit, and 
home ephemeral in the extreme ; while the latter steadily 
augments the wealth of the State, affords constant em- 
ployment and permanent homes, cultivating not only 
the rich valley lands but daily extending its lines toward 
the Sierras, up the ravines, gulches, and foot-hills, oblit- 
erating the old landmarks of the miner, fencing, plowing, 
planting, and reaping over and around the deserted 
ditches, sluices, tunnels, and shafts, and up to the sum- 
mit of the highest mountain ranges. So, too, year after 
^'•ear the agricultural area of the State widens, and the 
fallacious notions of the early settlers respecting the 
sterile nature of large portions of the State disappear. 
The truth is, that there is but a small proportion of the 
vast area of the State that is not susceptible of cultiva- 
tion or suited to grazing — not less than sixty-five million 
acres being fit for the plow. (For area, &c., see Chap- 
ter XIII.) 



A GRICUL TURE. 3 1 5 

The area of California has not yet been ascertained 
with exactness. This is owino- to the fact that the coast 
line of more than nine hundred miles, following the in- 
dentations of the coast, has not yet been exactly sur- 
veyed ; but the extent of the State as ascertained is 
188,981 square miles, or 120,947,840 acres. 

Of the agricultural lands of the State, the San Joa- 
quin and Santa Clara valleys form a very important 
part, but by no means constitute the agricultural lands 
of California. Rich valleys of various dimensions are 
found outside these two principal ones all the way from 
San Diego to Del Norte county ; and many of the 
valleys high up in the Sierras — in Humboldt, Siskiyou, 
Lassen, and Alpine counties — grow every variety of 
grains and fruits grown in the central counties of the 
State, and produce an average of wheat and barley 
greater than the rich agricultural counties surrounding 
the Bay of San Francisco. 

Spanish Grants. — Throughout the southern and cen- 
tral portions of the State, embracing much of the best 
agricultural and grazing lands of California, large tracts 
have been granted by the Spanish and Mexican authori- 
ties to Individuals, Some of these grants form princely 
domains, many of them containing from ten to fifty 
thousand acres, and tracts of the latter size, and even 
larger, are held by Individuals In California at this 
day. 

The boundaries of these early grants were very In- 
definite, being generally designated by some river, the 
ocean, or some irregular mountain range never ascer- 
tained, as the surveyor's art was unknown In California 
until after the conquest of the country by the United 



31 6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

States. To ascertain and define the limits and bounda- 
ries of these early grants has been a work full of diffi- 
culty and perplexity to settlers. 

More than three hundred and fifty of these Spanish 
grants, covering an area of five and a-quarter 'million 
acres, have been presented to the authorities of the 
United States for adjustment; and hundreds of fraudu- 
lent and irregular grants, covering vast areas, have 
linofered in tedious litiofation througrh the Federal and 
State courts, to the great detriment of public interests. 
The greater portion of this class of claims is now, 
however, finally settled. Some of the early grants, 
embracing immense tracts, still remain in the hands of 
first parties or their children ; but most of them have 
passed into the hands of capitalists or shrewd attorneys, 
who, at the outlay of a few hundred or thousand dollars, 
or some trifling legal service, hold princely estates. 

The inclination to hold on to these vast tracts is daily 
growing less, and as the country Is becoming settled 
and railroads span the valleys, owners of the soil ex- 
hibit a desire to dispose of their lands at reasonable 
rates and in tracts suitable for farming purposes. 

Lands in California are also held in large tracts by 
the United States, the State of California, and the rail- 
road companies In the State, there being 100,070,177 
acres of unsurveyed United States lands yet (1872) in 
California. 

For the (;:onvenIence of the public, there are six land 
offices established by the United States in California — 
one at each of the following places: San Francisco, 
Sacramento, Stockton, Marysville, Visalia, and Hum- 
boldt, at all of which offices every information respect- 
ing the public domain may be obtained free of charge. 



PUBLIC LANDS. 317 

For the better information of the reader, the follow- 
ing directions to obtain the public lands are here given: 

PUBLIC LANDS. 

How to secure the Public Lands under the Preemption and Homestead Laws. 

Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, /uly 19, 1865. 

Numerous questions having arisen as to the mode of proceeding 
to purchase public lands, or acquire title to the same by bounty land 
locations, by preemptions, or by homestead, this circular is commu- 
nicated for the information of all concerned. 

In order to acquire title to public lands, the following steps must 
be taken: 

1. Application must be made to the register of the district land 
office in which the land desired may be situated. 

A list of all the land offices in the United States is furnished by 
the department, with the seat of the different offices, where it is the 
duty of the register and receiver to be in attendance, and give 
proper facilities and information to persons desirous of obtaining 
lands. 

The minimum price of ordinary public lands is one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre. The even or reserved sections falling 
within railroad grants are increased to double the minimum price, 
being two dollars and fifty cents per acre. 

Lands once offered at public sale, and not afterwards kept out of 
market by reservation or otherwise, so as to prevent free competi- 
tion, may be entered or located. 

2. By the applicant filing with the register his written application 
describing the tract, with its area, the register will then certify to 
the receiver whether the land is vacant, with its price; and when 
found to be so, the applicant must pay that price per acre, or may 
locate the same with land-warrant, and thereafter the receiver will 
give him a "duplicate receipt," which he is required to surrender 
prior to the delivery to him of the patent, which may be had either 
by application for it to the register or to the General Land Office. 

3. If the tract has not been offered at public sale, it is not liable 
to ordinary private entry, but may be secured by a party legally 
qualified, upon his compliance with the requirements of the preemp- 
tion laws of 4th September, 1841, and 3d March, 1843; ^'^^ ^^^eF 



31 8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

such party shall have made actual settlement for such a length of 
time as will show he designs it for his permanent home and is 
acting in good faith, building a house and residing therein, he may 
proceed to the district land office, establish his preemption claim 
according to law by proving his actual residence and cultivation, 
and showing that he is otherwise within the purview of these acts. 
Then he can enter the land at one dollar and twenty-five cents, either 
with cash or with bounty land-warrant, unless the premises should be 
two dollars and fifty cents per acre lands. In that case the whole 
purchase money can be paid in cash, or one-half in cash, the residue 
with a bounty land-warrant. 

4. But if parties legally qualified desire to obtain title under the 
Homestead Act of 20th May, 1862, they can do so on complying 
with the Department Circular dated 30th October, 1862. 

5. The law confines homestead entries to surveyed lands; and 
although, in certain States and Territories referred to in the original 
law, preemptors may go on lands before survey, yet they can only 
establish their claim after return of survey, but must file their pre- 
emption declaration within three months after receipt of official 
plat, at the local land office where the settlement was made before 
survey. Where, however, it was made after survey, the claimant 
must file within three months after date of settlement; and where 
actual residence and cultivation have been long enough to show that 
the claimant has made the land his permanent home, he can establish 
his claim, and pay for the same at any time before the date of the 
public sale of lands within the range of which his settlement may 
fall. 

6. All unoffered surveyed lands not acquired under preemption, 
homestead, or otherwise, under express legal sanction, must be 
offered at public sale under the President's proclamation, and 
struck off to the highest bidder, as required by the Act of April 24, 
1820. 

J. M. EDMUNDS, 
Commissioner General Land Office. 

School Lands. — The State of California obtained by- 
grant from the National Congress six million acres of 
the public domain in the State ; this consists of the six- 
teenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township. 



A GR ICUL TURE. 3 1 9 

These lands are mostly disposed of already ; still 
such as are left may be purchased, at one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre, on easy terms. The State 
Surveyor-General being, ex officio, State Locating Agent, 
all the applicant has to do is to make application to 
him, where the necessary blanks and all information 
may be obtained. Citizens of the United States, or 
those having made their declaration of intention of 
citizenship, only can obtain these lands. 

Besides these lands mentioned, there are millions oC 
acres of good agricultural lands for sale in the State, 
with respectable offices and agents in every county and 
town of importance to give information to the pur- 
chaser. It is a most difficult task to attempt a descrip- 
tion of the quality, value, and price of lands in the 
State, so much depends upon location. Lands in the 
hands of private owners can be bought all the way 
from twenty-Jive cents to Jive hundred dollars per acre. 
In many portions of the counties adjoining the Bay of 
San Francisco rich agricultural lands can be bought for 
from Jifty to one hundi-ed dollars per acre, and in the 
wheat-growing regions of the San Joaquin and other 
valleys good farm-land can be purchased at from five 
to fifteen dollars per acre, often on very favorable 
terms. 

It must always be borne in mind that when agricul- 
tural lands are spoken of in California there is meant 
a good rich soil, entirely free from rock or trees of 
any description, and generally every foot being fit for 
the plow ; all the great valleys and rich rolling hills in 
the State being covered with wild oats and grass, and 
entirely free from timber, brush, or stones. 



220 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Wheat. — The official report of the Surveyor-General 
of the State shows that, in 1869, (this year is selected 
as being a fair average season,) there were 2,343,204 
acres under cultivation, 1,286,133 of which were under 
wheat and 468,076 under barley. This report, as well 
as the reports of the Agricultural Bureau of Congress 
for 1869, affords many illustrations of the great produc- 
tiveness of California over every State of the Union. 
Besides the superiority of California wheat, the yield 
^er acre surpasses all the States of the Union, and 
every country in the world. 

The total wheat crop of 1869 was about twenty-five 
million bushels, and the average annual yield amounts 
to twenty-one bushels to the acre. To illustrate the 
great productiveness of California, and to assure the 
reader that wheat-growing is not confined to the central 
valleys of the State, and that certain localities produce 
beyond any other portion of the world, it is only neces- 
sary to say, that throughout the northern portions of 
the State, and high up in the Sierras, the average of 
wheat and barley is greater than in the counties adjoin- 
ing the Bay of San Francisco, and not so liable to rust 
or other blight as in these latter counties. The coun- 
ties of Humboldt and Del Norte, in the rugged moun- 
tains, and at the northern line of the State, average 
twenty-five and twenty-seven bushels to the acre re- 
spectively; and Alpine county, perched up in the 
Sierras, averages twenty bushels of wheat to the acre. 

Throughout all parts of the State, in the great valleys, 
the Sierras and the Coast Range, there are many small 
valleys of inexhaustible richness, producing annually 
from sixty to one hundred and twenty bushels of prime 
wheat to the acre. Like the entire grain-producing 



AGRICULTURE. 32 1 

regions of the State, these valleys have been sown in 
wheat for from twelve to twenty years without one 
season's intermission, and without receiving a shovelful 
of manure or change of crop. Except in a few instances 
of gardening, there is no manure used upon the soil. 
Year after year, wheat, barley, beans, and potatoes are 
raised upon the same land, without any artificial stimu- 
lant: indeed, most of the farmers never save a particle 
of manure, and know but little of its use. 

To illustrate the superiority of California as a wheat- 
growing country, let us compare the annual yield per 
acre with the wheat-producing regions of the Atlantic 
slope, as shown by the official returns for 1869. The 
highest yield east of the Rocky mountains is credited 
to Vermont — sixteen bushels to the acre ; next comes 
Iowa — fourteen and a-half bushels; and third on the 
list, New York — fourteen bushels; Wisconsin, thirteen 
bushels; Illinois, eleven and a-half bushels; Kentucky,, 
eight and a-half bushels; Tennessee, six bushels; 
Texas, six bushels ; and Kansas but five bushels. It 
will here be seen that, in the most favored wheat-pro- 
ducing regions of the Atlantic States, the average yield 
per acre is but a little over one-half of the yield in Cali- 
fornia, while in many States it is but one-third, and in 
some less than one-fourth. 

The California wheat is produced upon land neither 
requiring clearing of timber, brush, stones, or other 
obstructions, but where the gang-plow can run uninter- 
rupted over hundreds of thousands of acres, and without 
the aid of manure. Then, too, there are no threatening 
clouds or rain-storms in the autumn sky; no binding 
of sheaves and stooking. The harvest is carried di- 
rectly from the mower, dry as tinder, to the thresher,, 



322 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and from the thresher the grain is fit for the mill or 
shipment. The grains are not shrivelled, lean, or milky, 
but each grain full, plump, and hard, matured regularly 
and thoroughly by the uninterrupted flood of mellow 
sunlight falling upon it during the ripening season. 

Wheat is generally put in sacks of one and two hun- 
dred pounds, and flour in sacks of from fifty to a hun- 
dred pounds, and in this manner shipped abroad or 
transported into the interior of the State and adjoining 
Territories. (See Chapter XXII.) 

Wheat, flour, and grain of every description, potatoes, 
beets, carrots, onions, and every description of vegeta- 
bles, fruit and berries, are all sold by the pound. The 
iDushel and other such measures are unknown in Cali- 
fornia. 

In the early days of California, beef was sold by the 
yard, and this custom still prevails in Lower California, 
Mexico, and South and Central America. When a 
beef is slaughtered, the meat is cut up into long strips, 
several fathoms long, and hung upon trees to dry. 
Neither salt nor any thing else is put on it. After it is 
thoroughly dried, which the pure, dry atmosphere will 
soon do, it is ready for the market, and, being coiled 
up like a rope, is carried upon the pummel of the saddle 
upon the long journey of the vaquero, or to the market. 

Barley. — Next in importance to the wheat crop is 
the barley crop of California. The crop of 1869 was 
about nine million bushels. Barley grows in all the 
counties in the State, and flourishes well in the Sierra 
range. The grain is very large, dry, and well-filled.' 
It is used chiefly for brewing and for feed for horses. 
It is used for the latter purpose almost entirely to the 



■ AGRICUL TURE. 323 

exclusion of corn or oats. The average yield per acre 
is about twenty-five bushels. 

Oats. — Oats grow well in most parts of the State. 
Great quantities are cut green for hay, used for feed 
for horses, and ground into meal. The crop of 1869 
was about three million bushels. The average product 
per acre is thirty-four bushels, and in some portions of 
the State one hundred and twenty-five and even one 
hundred and fifty bushels to the acre are produced. 

Wild Oats. — Wild oats cover the whole face of the 
country along the Coast Range and central and south- 
ern portions of the State. They afford excellent pas- 
turage, and are cut in great quantities for hay. The 
beard is long and the grain small, and much resembles 
the tame oats of the country, from which it is supposed 
to have originated from seed carried to the coast at an 
early day by the Spanish colonists. 

Neither timothy nor clover grows in California. This 
is owing to the continued drought of summer, which kills 
the roots. Nearly all the grasses in the State grow 
directly from the seed deposited each year ; so that no 
sod forms on the soil. Some species of bunch grass, 
and alfalfa, a species of clover, are the only grasses in 
California which continue to grow year after year from 
the roots. 

Other Growths. — Corn, rye, buckwheat, peas, beans, 
mustard, castor beans, broom corn, onions, flax, hops, 
tobacco, and all kinds of vegetables, grow abundantly 
in the State. About one million bushels of corn were 
grown in California in 1869, the average being thirty 
bushels to the acre. Peas average thirty-six bushels 
to the acre. Beans grow abundantly, especially along 



324 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the sea-coast, where the dense fogs of summer reach 
them: the yield is about twenty-seven bushels to the 
acre. 

Onions grow In great abundance, and to enormous 
size. About one hundred and eighty thousand bushels 
were produced in 1869: the average yield per acre is 
about sixty-eight bushels. 

Flax, so far, has been grown in but two or three coun- 
ties ; but it will grow well in most parts of the State'. 
There were over one hundred and twenty thousand 
pounds grown in 1869, chiefly in the counties of Solano, 
Alameda, and Santa Cruz ; the former county producing 
more than three-fourths of the entire product of the 
State. Flax is a native of California, and grows wild 
in great abundance in many parts. 

Wild mustard grows profusely through the middle, 
southern, and Coast Range districts of California. It is 
not the slender shrub of the Atlantic States, but grows 
in immense forests, some of the stalks growing to the 
size of small trees, in which the birds lodge and to 
which the traveller can hitch his horse in safety. The 
grain is very large, and of superior quality. All the 
mustard used in the State, together with great quanti- 
ties shipped abroad, is gathered from the fields. There 
is enough wild mustard in California to supply the 
markets of the world, and many persons have, within a 
few years past, made many thousand dollars in a season 
by gathering wild mustard. 

Hops, of a very superior quality, are grown in many 
parts of the State. The soil and climate of California 
are very favorable for hop-raising ; the long, dry sum- 
mer and autumn being very favorable for drjang. 
About one million pounds were grown in the State in 



A GRICUL TURE. 325 

1869, the average to the acre being about eighty-four 
pounds. 

Neither the soil nor climate seems to be adapted to 
tobacco. In some localities it seems to thrive pretty 
well ; but as a whole tobacco-growing in California has 
not been a success. Only about one hundred and 
twenty thousand pounds were raised in 1869. The 
average per acre is about eight hundred pounds. The 
quality of the California tobacco is inferior, and most 
of the leaf used in the manufacture of cigars is im- 
ported. 

Potatoes grow everywhere in the State, and produce 
most abundantly. No rot, blight, or disease has ever 
been known to affect the potato in California, and in 
size and quality they are unsurpassed in the world- 
Single potatoes weighing from one to four pounds are 
common, and in some instances a single potato has 
weighed from six to seven pounds. The crop of 1869 
amounted to about three million five hundred thousand 
bushels. The average yield per acre is about one hun- 
dred and twenty bushels, although in many localities it 
reached from three hundred and fifty to five hundred 
bushels to the acre. Sweet potatoes of a fine quality 
grow through the central and southern parts of the 
State. 

Vegetables and fruits of every description produce 
most abundantly, and grow to a size unequalled in any 
other part of the world. The general average of fruits 
and vegetables in the markets of California is double 
the size of the best varieties in the Atlantic States, while 
some grow to sizes unheard of outside of California. 
To illustrate, a few of the large growths are here given: 
carrots, thirty pounds ; Irish potatoes, seven pounds ; 



326 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

sweet potatoes, fourteen pounds ; turnips, thirty pounds; 
watermelons, sixty-five pounds ; cabbages, seventy-five 
pounds ; beets, two hundred pounds ; pumpkins, two 
hundred and fifty pounds, one pumpkin vine producing 
one hundred and thirty pumpkins of an aggregate 
weight of 2,604 pounds ; squash, one hundred and forty 
pounds. 

Vegetables of almost every description grow the 
year round, so that the markets are well supplied at 
every season. So soon as the vegetables are taken 
from the soil, the ground is tilled, fresh seed sown, the 
land irrigated, (if in summer,) and a new crop is started. 
So, too, some varieties of fruits and berries are in the 
market every day in the year, and generally a full 
supply most of the year. 

The growth of fruits and berries is also remarkable. 
A pear, exhibited In the Washington market, San Fran- 
cisco, in the fall of 1870, grown at Sutterville, Sacra- 
mento county, weighed four pounds six ounces, and 
measured one foot seven inches in circumference, and 
one foot eleven inches in orlrth lenofthwise. 

In 1870, there was raised near Sacramento a potato 
weighing three pounds nine ounces, and measuring 
fifteen and one-half Inches In circumference, and twenty- 
three Inches girth lengthwise. 

A potato raised at Walnut Grove, Sacramento county, 
in 1869, measured fourteen inches in circumference, 
thirty-six inches whole length round lengthwise, and 
weighed four pounds. Currants grow to the size of 
cherries elsewhere ; pears weigh four pounds; raspber- 
ries and blackberries grow most abundantly and of great 
size ; and strawberries, which are in market from the 



ii'i'ii ti 





!l|:Fiillliiia«ll>lll' l!ll l|jl!L.»!l!!gl* 



FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 327 

first of March until Christmas, grow the size of plums 
and small potatoes. They are not taken to market in 
baskets and pails of a few quarts each, but by the ton: 
one hundred and forty tons having arrived in a single 
day in the San Francisco market in May, 1870. In June 
of this year a cherry grown in Alameda county, and 
exhibited in San Francisco, measured three and one- 
half inches in circumference. 

Fruit and berries of every description are entirely 
free from bugs, worms, and other insects so destructive 
and disagreeable in most of the Atlantic States. 

Apples, apricots, cherries, grapes, peaches, pears, and 
plums are raised in nearly every county in the State. 
Blackberries are chiefly grown in Alameda, Napa, Sac- 
ramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma 
counties. Alameda and Santa Clara counties raise 
nearly all our currants. The best fig counties are Sac- 
ramento, San Joaquin, Sierra, Solano, Butte, and Yuba. 
The same counties also furnish large quantities of 
nectarines. The counties producing the largest quan- 
tities of prunes are Alameda, Placer, Sacramento, Santa 
Clara, Sierra, and Yuba. The supply of raspberries 
is chiefly obtained in Alameda and Los Angeles coun- 
ties. Santa Clara is the chief county for strawberries, 
the yield there being nearly seventy-five per cent, of the 
total product. Most of the quinces raised come from 
Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and Yuba counties. Nearly 
all the oranges, lemons, limes, and citron produced in 
the State are raised in Los Angeles county ; while all 
the canteleups and watermelons are furnished by Sac- 
ramento county. The gooseberry crop is light, scarcely 
reaching one hundred tons, and Alameda probably 



.^28 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



raises more than any other county in the State. It is 
safe to say that nine-tenths of all the fruit raised in the 
State seeks San Francisco for a market ; and that at 
least one hundred tons of the quantity sent here decays 
or is otherwise wasted before it passes into the hands 
of consumers. In the annexed table is given the aggre- 
gate pounds of the different varieties of fruit raised in 
California during the year 1870, together with the mar- 
ket value of the same, as based on the average prices 
in San Francisco during that season : 



Apples, lbs 
Apricots, . 
Blackberries, 
Cherries, . 
Currants, . 
Figs, . . , 
Grapes, . . 
Nectarines, 
Peaches, . 
Pears, . . 
Plums, . . 
Prunes, . . 



QUANTITY. 

20,755,000 
2,133.775 

1,050,000 
1,129,625 

697,000 

1,066,000 

11,654,000 

720,000 
7,982,000 
9,828,000 

2,952,250 
337,750 



VALUE. 
^415,100 
106,689 
78,750 

203,333 
62,730 
74,620 

466,160 
36,000 

274,381 

204,751 

147,613 
20,265 





QUANTITY. 


VALUE. 


Raspberries, . 


, 61,000 


,$7,625 


Strawberries, . 


1,957,000 


166,345 


Quinces, . . . 


749,750 


14,995 


Oranges, . - . 


2,466,000 


73,980 


Lemons, . . . 


226,000 


5,650 


Limes, .... 


75,000 


1,125 


Watermelons, 


50,000 


4,000 


Canteleups, . 


50,000 


3,500 


Citron, .... 


100,000 


4,000 



Total, ; . ; ;$2,37i,6i2 



The above figures show how important the fruit in- 
terest has become in California. In no State in the 
Union can such a variety of fruit be so successfully 
raised as here. The local consumption is every year 
increasing, while new markets are constantly being 
opened. The increasing demand for dried and pre- 
served fruits gives assurance that our fruit Interest may 
yet be more fully and profitably developed. 

The followino- table shows the date of arrival In San 
Francisco of the first fruit of the season, and the prices 
at which such samples were sold. As the season ad- 
vances and fruit becomes abundant, it also becomes 



FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



329 



cheap, grapes and other fruits retailing at from three 
to five cents per pound : 



Apples, . 
Apricots, 
Cherries, 
Currants, 
Figs, . . 
Grapes, , 



DATE OF 
ARRIVAL. 

June 15, 
May 28, 
May 2, . 
June 4, . 
June 28, 
June 27, 



PRICE PER 
POUND. 

25 

75 
5i 25 
12 
40 
50 



DATE OF 
ARRIVAL. 



Peaches, June 15, . 

Pears, June 9, . 

Plums, June lO, . 

Raspberries, . . . June i, . 
Strawberries, . . March 17, 



PRICE PER 
POUND. 

5i 00 
10 
60 
50 
50 



The thrift of fruit trees in California is most remark- 
able. Apple, plum, peach, cherry, and pear, in the first 
and second year from the slip or graft, produce fruit, 
and trees at three and four years of age produce 
abundantly ; and it is not uncommon to see slender 
slips, of one and two years old, with such a weight of 
fruit as breaks them to the ground. An instance came 
under the writer's observation, in Oregon, of an apple 
slip, but two years old, upon which was a solitary apple — 
the only one produced — measuring eight inches in cir- 
cumference. 

The growth of fruit trees in California is unequalled 
in any other part of the world. Apple, cherry, and 
pear trees often grow ten, twelve, and fourteen feet, 
from the bud, in a single year. As a rule, all fruit trees 
are bearing well at two and three years ; and, at four 
years, are further advanced than their species at seven 
in the Atlantic States. 

The climate and soil of the State are so diversified 
that every variety of fruit on the Atlantic shores between 
Maine and Florida may be found here. All the dif- 
ferent kinds of apples, plums, cherries, currants, and 
gooseberries peculiar to the North are common here ; 
so also the almost tropical oranges, olives, figs, lemons, 
and pomegranates. 



330 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Los Angeles and other southern counties produce 
most of the oranges and lemons of California, but they 
can be cultivated with success as far north as Sacra- 
mento and Sonoma counties ; and in some instances 
these fruits are cultivated along the western slope of 
the Sierras in Amadore, Placer, Nevada, and Siskiyou 
counties, where the northern portion of the State joins 
the Sierra mountains. The number of orange trees in 
the State is about fifty thousand ; and the yield of 
oranges, in 1870, is estimated at more than two and 
a-half million, about three times as great as the crop of 
any previous year. Each tree, when in full bearing, 
yields from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred each. 
The California orange has no superior anywhere : they 
are sweeter and finer-flavored than any of the imported, 
and the best qualities from the Sandwich and other 
Pacific islands are little sought after when California 
oranges are in supply. 

Lemons are grown chiefly in the southern part of the 
State ; but, like the orange, the cultivation is fast creep- 
ing toward the Sierras, and, of late years, farmers are 
planting lemon trees as high up as Amadore, Calaveras, 
and Humboldt counties. They can be grown in every 
county in the State. 

Limes are cultivated to a limited extent ; and, with 
proper attention, could be made a profitable branch of 
industry. Mexico and Central America, both of which 
produce great quantities of limes, offer a strong compe- 
tition in the lime trade. 

Figs grow all over the State : the southern and cen- 
tral portions produce most abundantly, but they are 
grown in almost every county. Sacramento and Santa 
Barbara are the chief producing counties. The fig 



FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 33 1 

grows throughout the foot-hills and up in the Sierras — 
as high up as Humboldt and Siskiyou counties. The 
trees produce most abundantly, grow very large, and 
bear two crops per year. Large quantities of figs are 
dried and sold throughout the coast. 

Olives are grown in thirty counties in the State. 
There are about thirty thousand olive trees in Califor- 
nia, more than half of which are in Santa Barbara 
county. The olive is cultivated along the western slope 
of the Sierras, but flourishes best in the central and 
southern sections of the State. 

Walnuts grow in every county in the State, and are 
fast attracting the attention of farmers, both on account 
of their value for shade and timber as well as for the 
nuts. There are about forty thousand walnut trees in 
California. Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Los Angeles, and 
Alameda counties are the largest walnut-producing 
sections. 

Almonds thrive throug-hout the central and southern 
portion of the State; but, like most of the other fruits 
and nuts, can be profitably grown in every county in 
California. About one-quarter of the forty-five thou- 
sand almond trees in the State is in Santa Barbara 
county. 

So far the cultivation of prunes has been very limited. 
There are only about twelve thousand prune trees in 
the State. They can be grown up to the Sierras, but 
grow best in the central and southern sections. 

Pomegranates have been almost entirely neglected, 
and the few grown in the State have been as much for 
ornament as for profit. 

Plums, cherries, quinces, nectarines, apricots, pears, 
peaches, and apples grow equally well in every section 



332 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

of California. Apples, peaches, and pears are produced 
in immense quantities, and of superior quality. There 
are about two and a-half million apple trees in the 
State. Santa Clara and Sonoma counties take the lead in 
producing apples. The northern portion of the country 
produces the finest quality, but the apples of Oregon 
are superior to any raised in California, and the chief 
winter supply of California is obtained from Oregon. 

Peaches grow most abundantly, and are of superior 
quality. During the summer months the whole country 
seems to be flooded with peaches. There are about 
one million producing trees in the State. Santa Clara, 
Sonoma, Sacramento, Yolo, and San Joaquin are the 
chief producing counties. 

With strawberries ripe in February, (they are in the 
market eleven months in the year,) cherries in May, 
peaches in June, and all the varieties of fruits, nuts, and 
berries through the spring, summer, and fall months — 
with vegetables fresh from the field every day in the 
year — it may be said that the markets of California are 
constantly supplied with a greater variety and better 
quality of fresh vegetables, fruits, and berries than any 
other portion of the world. It, however, requires that 
skilled labor and condensed population which induces 
competition and economy to develop the great hidden 
resources of the rich soil and semi-tropical climate of 
California. 

The Grape, — California beyond all doubt Is the 
greatest grape-producing country in the world. Grapes 
grow in every county in the State, from the aerial 
heights of Alpine and Siskiyou counties to the waters 
of the Colorado, and produced in an abundance un- 



THE GRAPE. y^T^ 

known elsewhere. It is estimated that there are thirty- 
five milHon grape-vines in the State, and that when 
these are in full bearing they will produce thirty-five 
million gallons of wine annually. The long, dry sum- 
mers of California, with the air so pure, is peculiarly 
adapted to the ripening and drying of the grape. 
Throughout the long, dry summer the leaves and 
branches of the grape are green ; and from September 
until Christmas the markets are flooded with grapes of 
great size, variety, and richness, and at very low prices. 
The yield of wine to the acre, in California, is more 
than double the averagfe of the best wine countries of 
Europe. California produces a thousand gallons to the 
acre ; while the product of European wine-growing 
countries is only about four hundred gallons. 

Large quantities of grapes are converted into wine 
and brandy and consumed for table use. In some 
counties species suited to making raisins are grown ; 
but the greater part of the grapes raised are the 
Mission or California. They are smaller and sweeter 
than most other varieties ; but the wine produced Is 
inferior and is much cheaper than from the European 
species grown in the State. California produces from 
eight thousand to ten thousand pounds of grapes to the 
acre ; while Ohio produces but five thousand pounds, 
and France but three thousand pounds. 

Wine in quantity can be bought at the cellars In 
California at from twenty-five cents to seventy-five 
cents per gallon, according to the quality and variety 
of grapes used. Grapes bought by the whole crop in 
the vineyard bring only from one to one and a-half 
cents per pound; but In locations where grapes are 
sold for table use, and even in some instances wher- 



334 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

made into wine, a gross income of from five hundred 
dollars to two thousand dollars per acre is realized ; 
but generally on cheap varieties from fifty dollars to 
two hundred dollars per acre is an average net profit. 
Almost the entire labor connected with grape culture is 
performed by Chinese. 

The cultivation of foreign species of grapes is of late 
years attracting attention, and many of these varieties 
grow most luxuriantly, and sell at most remunerative 
prices. The Flaming Tokay, White Tokay, Black 
Malvoisie, Muscat of Alexandria, Golden Chasselas, 
Rose of Peru, Black and White Hamburg, all grow 
well. 

In early days the mission fathers thought the deep, 
rich bottom lands the best suited to the grape : in their 
notions, however, they were mistaken. The grapes 
grown upon the highlands, and even up through the 
foot-hills, and grapes grown in the Sierras, are finer in 
flavor and make superior wine to those of the same 
varieties in the rich lowlands. The vines bear at two 
years old, and at three and four years produce abun- 
dantly. Sonoma, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Napa, and 
El Dorado are the chief grape-producing counties in 
the State. Grapes are grown in every county in Cali- 
fornia, and the foot-hills and every foot of soil along the 
mountain sides and the ridges of the Sierras will pro- 
duce choice grapes. There are thirty millio7i acres of 
land in California upon which grapes can be grown; 
and that California will eventually become the great 
centre of wine producing in the world seems to be but 
a question of time. The wine product of the State, for 
1872, is estimated at ten million gallons, besides two 
million gallons of grape brandy. 



AGRICULTURE. 335 

The largest and most productive grape-vine in the 
world is in California, at Montecito, Santa Barbara 
county. In 1 765, Senora Dominguez, then a little girl, 
was making a journey on horseback toward her home: 
she had in her hand for a whip a grape-vine. After rid- 
incr awhile she observed that the vine was buddino" in 
her hand, and, on her arrival at home, she planted it. 
It grew ; and to-day is fresh and vigorous, although it 
is entered upon its second hundredth year. From this 
single sprig has grown a stem eighteen inches in diam- 
eter, with innumerable branches and off-shoots coverinof 
an area one hundred and twenty feet in length and 
eighty feet in width, and producing between three and 
four tons of grapes annually. This vine and its pro- 
duce had for almost a century been the chief support 
and shelter of its planter: for one hundred years Senora 
Dominguez lived beneath the hospitable shade of this 
vine, and on the 9th day of May, 1865, at the ad- 
vanced age of one hundred and five years, and just one 
hundred years from the time she had planted it, sur- 
rounded by over three hundred of her offspring, 
in children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and 
great-great-grandchildren, Senora Dominguez died, 
leaving her generous vine still fresh and vigorous. The 
great growth and productiveness of this vine is attrib- 
uted by some to the fact that its roots are watered by 
a mineral spring adjacent. 

Tea. — China and Japan are the great supply foun- 
tains of all the tea used throughout the globe. From 
the palace of the Czar, the courdy halls of Westminster, 
and throughout every town, village, and home in Amer- 
ica, may be found, as a staple household luxury, this 



236 THE G OLDEN S TA TE. 

Oriental herb, so long the leading export of China, and 
one of the most extensive imports of America. 

It has long been asserted by men of experience that 
the climate and soil of California were well adapted to 
tea-growing. But, strange to say, although Chinese 
have been located in every section of the State, no 
attempt had been made to grow tea until the summer 
of 1869, when Herr Schnell, an intelligent German, 
skilled in tea-growing in Japan, arrived with a small 
colony of Japanese tea-farmers and founded a colony 
in El Dorado county. The soil of this place is sandy, 
and rather dry. Tea plants, to be healthy, should not 
be planted in very moist soil. That upon the higher 
and dryer portion of this plantation is more prosperous 
than the other. The tea seed is about the size of an 
ordinary marble. They are first planted in hills, about 
a hundred in each hill. It takes about ten days for 
them to sprout ; when they do, the seed is halved 
exactly in the centre. After the plants are about a year 
old, they are fit to transplant. This is done in two 
ways : one way, and the best, is to form a hill about 
eighteen inches across, the same as in raising melons ; 
four plants describe a foot square in the circle. No irri- 
gation is necessary after the plants get a fair start. 
There are over four hundred thousand in this planta- 
tion. The hills should be six feet apart one way, and 
eight feet the other. Another way of planting is in 
hedges, three rows in each hedge, with half as many in the 
centre as in the outside rows. Eighty-seven thousand 
of these are set out. There are also five million seeds 
planted in hills, on the place. The tea plants will attain 
a growth of six feet, but for use are never allowed to 
grow over three feet. All are growing finely upon this 



TEA AND ITS PRODUCTION: 337 

place, and from samples raised it is almost beyond a 
doubt that tea-raising in California will yet prove a 
success. 

Owing to the fact that the land upon which Mr. 
Schnell's plantation was located was more valuable for 
gold -mining than for agriculture, and the repeated 
invasion of the miner, he was, in 1872, compelled to 
abandon it; thus ending the first practical effort in 
tea-oTowinor in the State. 

But one variety or kind of tea is known, and is the 
one designated by Dr. von Siebold as the simensis Lmn. 
All of the varieties described by^ botanists under the 
names bohea, viridis, laden, stricta, &c., are only varia- 
tions of the si7nensis Li?m., produced by different modes 
of cultivation and geographical distribution. Dr. von 
Siebold places the simensis wn^l^r xhe^ monadelphia poly- 
aiidria Linti., and to the natural family of the cameleia- 
rum decani. The tea shrub in Japan is an evergreen, 
from four to six feet high, with a straight stem, and 
numerous irregular branches. Growing wild, the shrub 
will reach a height of fifteen or twenty feet. The stem 
is of a bright gray color, the branches chestnut and the 
wood hard, and having a peculiar odor. On the young 
branches are the short, soft, green, small leaves, which 
are arranged in intervals, and are of an elliptical shape, 
with teeth on the borders, resembling closely the leaves 
of the wild rose. The color is a brio-ht orreen, of dif- 
ferent shades, deepening as the season advances. 
Between the leaves sprout the blossoms, which are at 
first of a rose color, but in the course of their develop- 
ment assume lighter shades, and finally, when full blown, 
are of the color of the ordinary tea-rose. They have 
no odor, and are very tender, but are put to no use. 



^^S THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The story that these flowers are preserved for mixing 
teas that are only drunk by the emperor and the nobihty 
is a fabrication. When these flowers fade away, they 
leave a small fruit, which is divided into two or three 
partitions, generally three, which contain the seeds. 
Owing to the great quantity of oil contained in these 
seeds, they are difficult of preservation, and easily decay. 
The tea shrub is very easy of cultivation, and will grow 
nearly everywhere with plenty of air and sun, but 
cannot live in shady places. The new plants are raised 
from seeds, which are planted in rows in furrows from 
four to six inches deep, in a manner similar to that in 
which beans are usually planted ; but, out of this num- 
ber of seeds, probably but a few in each hill will sprout, 
owing to the decay produced by the excessive quantity 
of oil they contain. The proper time for tea-planting 
is in November or December, when it sprouts through 
the ground in about thirty days. By the ensuing 
May, the plant reaches a height of about fourteen 
inches, when the perfect and tender leaves are stripped 
off, and are placed under immediate manipulation. 
They are first put in a large copper pan and roasted, 
then put in baskets and shaken and swung in the 
wind until they are dried of the moisture that has 
been exuded by the heat, then roasted again, then 
rolled in the palms of the hand to separate the leaves, 
and prevent their crumbling into powder, then dried 
again in the baskets by shaking and swinging, and 
then put in jars, when they are ready for market. 
The black teas are roasted three times, the green 
teas but once or twice. Every year the trees or 
shrubs are trimmed down to a height of about three 
feet ; after having reached that height, and when prop- 



BEET SUGAR. 



1 iri 



erly taken care of, they will produce good crops for 
upward of thirty years. It is absolutely necessary that 
the plants should have the morning sun, and be on the 
south side of a hill, or the leaves will become yellow, 
and the tea be of an inferior quality. 

The soil and climate of California, for the growth and 
curing of tea, are pronounced unequalled in any part 
of the world. The foot-hills and western slope of the 
Sierras up to the deep snow line are estimated as well 
adapted to tea-raising. A great portion of the teas 
now used in the United States come direct by steam- 
ship from China and Japan to San Francisco, whence it 
is transported overland by rail to the Atlantic cities. 

California cannot be expected to compete with China 
and Japan in raising tea, if it were only the difference 
in the cost of labor between them; but at some future 
period California will doubtless reckon among her 
varied and remunerative productions that of tea. 

Beet Sugar. — California possesses many advantages 
over France, Germany, and other beet-growing coun- 
tries. The vast alkaline regions of the State, as well 
as the rich bottom-lands of the valleys, produce beets 
of enormous size and superior quality, without artificial 
manure. Owing to the mild climate, beets can remain 
in the field until they are wanted for use, or, if pulled, 
can be piled in the open air or under some frail shed 
without danger of rot or frost. Then, too, owing to the 
long, dry summer, and bright sun, the California sugar- 
beet possesses more strength than do the beets of any 
other portion of the globe. About forty tons of sugar- 
beet can be grown upon an acre of land in California, 



340 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

which can be bought for one-eighth the price of land in 
Europe, which will not produce one-half the yield. 

Europe now derives most of her sugar from the beet, 
which for more than forty years has kept constantly in- 
creasing as a basis of permanent supply. More than 
one thousand beet-sugar mills are now in operation in 
Europe. 

Two companies have recently erected beet-sugar 
mills in California; and a mill in successful operation 
at Alvarado, Alameda county, has placed a superior 
article of sugar in the market. The State should not 
only make all the sugar used on the coast, but soon 
become a large exporter of that staple of commerce. 

Cotton and Rice. — Some attempts at raising cotton 
have been made in California, with good success. In 
some sections of the southern portion of the State 
cotton will grow well, and the soil and climate seem 
to be well adapted to its production. 

Much of the tule and other low and overflowed lands 
of the State are suited to rice-growing, but so far no 
practicable attempt has been made in this direction, ex- 
cept upon a very small scale upon some of the islands 
in the Sacramento river. 

Silk. — The mulberry tree, upon the leaves of which 
the silk-worm feeds, grows in every county in Califor- 
nia; there are half a million trees in the State. Sacra- 
mento, El Dorado, Yolo, Los Angeles, and Sutter are 
the chief silk-producing counties. The balmy, even cli- 
mate of California, free from oppressive frosts, sudden 
changes, thunder storms, and protracted damps and 
colds, is peculiarly adapted to the growth of silk and 



SILK MANUFACTURE. 34I 

the breeding of the silk-worm. The Japanese worms 
thrive best in California, and the staple produced is 
longer and finer than the best varieties of France or 
Italy. An excellent quality of dress silk has been 
manufactured in the State; but a general Ignorance in 
reference to the raising and feeding of the worms, and 
also of the cultivation of the mulberry tree, has greatly 
retarded an important branch of industry, for which 
California is eminently fitted. 

A small factory, for the manufacture of silk, has been 
recently erected at San Jose, and one manufacturing 
thread only at San Francisco. The prospects of Cali- 
fornia, at some future day, becoming an extensive silL- 
manufacturing district are very encouraging. 



342 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Sheep and wool — Horses — Cattle raising and branding — Rodeos — 
Native horsemanship — Lassoing grizzly bears — Poultry and bees. 

Sheep and Wool. — Both the climate and soil of 
California are admirably adapted to sheep. The even 
temperature, generally dry weather, freeness from de- 
structive storms, wide range of pasture, and the fact 
that sheep do not require shelter or food other than 
what nature supplies, greatly reduces the cost and labor 
so necessary in the Atlantic States and Europe. 

Flocks in California are free from disease, and the 
loss by wild animals not a quarter of that throughout 
the Atlantic States. Sheep grow fast and mature 
earlier in California than in c^ny other part of America. 
Ewes generally have lambs when one year old, and 
twins and triplets are common. 

The original stock of sheep was of a very inferior 
quality, and consisted of the remnants of the old mission 
flocks and bands of very inferior stock brought into the 
State overland from New Mexico. But as the impor- 
tance of wool-growing begins to attract attention, the 
stock is exhibiting signs of decided improvement by 
the Introduction of pure-blooded sheep. Still there are 
flocks of the old stock (Mexican sheep) yet In the State, 
roaming the sandy and dusty plains of the southern 
section of California, as much like wolves, as regards 
wool, as like sheep. This class averages a fleece of 
wool, sand, and dirt, as it is sheared, of only two pounds. 
Inferior American sheep In the State average a clip of 
four pounds; while merino and Improved breeds yield 



SHEEP AND WOOL. 



343 



from six or eight to twelve and twenty pounds. The 
largest fleece produced in the State was by a French 
merino buck in Monterey county — forty-two pounds. 
All these weights are g-iven before the fleeces are 
washed. 

The raising of sheep for their wool was first com- 
menced in California in 1853, and since that period the 
increase has been steady. The first exportation of 
wool from the State was in 1855 — three hundred and 
sixty thousand pounds. The wool crop of California 
for 1 87 1 reached twenty-eight million pounds, worth 
about seven million five hundred thousand dollars. Of 
the entire growth, four million pounds were used in the 
factories in California, and twenty-two million five hun- 
dred thousand pounds sold in the Atlantic States, of 
which 2,223,322 pounds went by sea, and 20,100,182 
pounds by rail. 

The remarkable development of wool-growing in 
California, and the unlimited extent to which it may 
attain in the genial climate and on the broad ranges of 
the Golden State, and the importance of this product to 
the nation, may be ascertained in some degree by the 
table here giving the export of wool from San Francisco 
during the past fifteen years: 



YEAR. 


POUNDS. 


1857, • 


1,100,000, 


1858, . 


1,430,000, 


1859, . 


2,375,000, 


i860, . 


3,170,000, 


I86I, . 


3,730,000, 


1862, . 


5,900,000, 


IS63, . 


2,270,000, 


1864, . 


5,930,000, 



VALUE. 


YEAR. 


. $173,500 


IS65, . . 


200,000 


1866, . . 


• 353.500 


.IS67, . . 


400,000 


1868, . . 


510,000 


1869, . . 


. 1,062,000 


1870, . . 


. 1,230,000 


IS7I, . . 


. 1,252,000 





POUNDS. 

6,473>ooo, 
4,674,000, 
7,048,000, 
13,225,000, 
13,274,000, 
19,010,000, 
22,323,000, 



VALUE. 
1,350,000 

950,000 
1,215,000 
2,428,000 
2,454,000 
3,506,000 
6,697,000 



There are about two million five hundred thousand 
sheep and twenty-five thousand Cashmere and Angora 



344 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

goats in the State. Flocks of three, eight, ten, and 
twenty thousand are not uncommon; and one sheep- 
raiser in the southern section of the State, who, in 1853, 
commenced in poverty to raise sheep, has now about 
eighty thousand acres of land, and owns forty thousand 
sheep, chiefly of superior breeds. 

There are six woollen mills in California, which use 
annually over four million pounds of wool. Cassl- 
meres, tweeds, flannels, a variety of other goods, and 
blankets, are produced at these mills Only the finest 
grades of wool are used, and the California made 
blankets, in size, weight, and fineness, surpass those 
made in any other part of the world. California is now 
highest on the list of wool-producing States in the 
Union. 

Cattle. — As early as the first settlement of Cali- 
fornia, cattle were introduced from Spain and Mexico. 
But little attention was paid to milk or butter, and 
cattle of every description and age ran wild together. 
They soon multiplied, and in great herds grazed upon 
the hills and roamed the valleys as wild as deer. They 
were used only for beef and for their hides and tallow, 
which, for many years previous to the American occu- 
pation of the country, formed the chief export. At 
this early period cows were never milked; when beef 
was wanted, the vaquero, reata in hand, mounted his 
fleet horse, dashed into the band, and, snaring one, led 
it to the slaughter; or, when hides and tallow were 
wanted for the trading vessels of the coast, whole herds 
"were slaughtered upon the field, the hides and tallow 
carried away, and the carcass left where the animal 
was slain. Great numbers of Spanish cattle still roam 



CATTLE AND HORSES. 345 

over the southern portion of the State ; these cattle re- 
semble the wild beasts of the forest more than cows; 
they are generally of a yellowish-brown or drab color, 
with large, dark circles round the eyes and nostrils; 
long, slim legs, as lank as a hound and fleet as a deer; 
their horns grow immense, sometimes measuring eight 
feet from tip to tip. As all the herders and vaqueros 
are always mounted, these cattle, not being accus- 
tomed to see a man on foot, will, when they chance to 
see one, encircle him, and often with great fury attack 
him. 

The introduction of superior stock is fast absorbing 
the original Spanish cattle of the State; but immense 
bands of Spanish and mixed cattle yet run wild. 

Except in a few instances where cows are milked, or 
a few oxen worked, cattle are never handled: they 
roam, cows, calves, and all, in great herds. Once a 
year, at least — generally in the spring — there is a gen- 
eral rodeo, or gathering, of the cattle and horses together, 
that all the young ones may be branded according to 
law; as a statute imposes the duty upon all stock own- 
ers to brand with a hot iron all cattle and horses on 
the hip with some letter or sign, which shall be recorded 
as their mark. 

The general rodeo is a season of great activity and 
excitement, from a week to ten days generally being 
spent in the exciting business of collecting every de- 
scription of cattle within a wide district into some small 
valley, where a corral or pen is erected, the object 
being to secure every unmarked animal so that the 
owner may imprint his brand upon it. To accomplish 
this the vaquero, mounted upon his fleet steed, or a 
dozen of them thus mounted, gallop in among the 



346 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

cattle, others circling the bands to keep them together; 
pursuit is given to an unbranded animal, the race con- 
tinuing amidst the swaying, tossing, thousands of cat- 
tle bellowing, running, pawing, and raising clouds of 
dust, through which the active riders whirl, gallop, and 
plunge as they swing their reatas. When an animal 
is looped by the neck, horns, or foot, it is led to the 
branding place, secured, and the hot iron pressed deep 
upon the hip. 

At these seasons each band is separated, and the 
vaqueros keep a kind of guardianship over the herds. 
Durinof these o-atherino^s the cattle -owners and va- 

o o o 

queros camp out, or at some neighbor's house hold 
fandangos, and, amidst a copious supply of wine and 
eatables, conclude their great annual rodeo. 

The horsemanship of the vaquero during these ex- 
citing scenes is a most interesting feature of the per- 
formance. The fleetness of horses and the dexterity 
with which the lasso is thrown are often made tests of 
efficiency between contestants for superior horseman- 
ship. 

The horse is so trained that, without the use of bridle 
or rein, he will follow, however long or devious the 
course,' the animal selected for capture ; and, antici- 
pating every move of his rider, will watch the throwing 
of the lariat, brace himself, or fall upon his haunches, 
and, with the raw-hide reata stretched from the cap- 
tured animal to the pummel of the saddle, lead the 
most refractory animal at will. 

So expert, too, is the vaquero in the use of the lariat 
that, coiling it in a loose bunch in his hand, swinging it 
about his head he will throw the bunch, one end being 
still fast to the saddle, and snare by the foot, horn, or 



CATTLE AND HORSES. 347 

neck an animal whilst his horse is under full gallop. 
Should his hat, his knife, or rope fall, he never dis- 
mounts, and seldom slackens his speed, but, whilst his 
horse is on the full run, swoops down upon the ground 
with one hand, while his heel or spur pressed under the 
saddle-girth holds him to his position on his horse. The 
greatest skill and dexterity of the vaquero is exhibited 
in catching wild animals. At an early day, and before 
fire-arms were much in use, wild cattle, horses, elk, deer, 
and all other animals, whether for domestic uses or for 
the sake of their flesh, were caught with the lasso; and 
the Mexican hunter started in pursuit of the grizzly 
bear mounted upon his fleet pony, and armed only with 
a raw-hide rope. Generally three, four, or more of 
these mounted hunters thus armed would scour the 
gulches and mountains until they found their game. 
The formidable grizzly, surrou^ided by the expert va- 
queros, would soon find himself snared by the neck by 
two or three sharp hide ropes, with one end of each 
fast to the saddle-pummel, and horses drawing in op- 
posite directions ; thus, half strangled, leaping, and 
gnawing at the lariat, the unlucky animal is caught by 
the legs by the reatas of other riders and either 
despatched by the hunter's knife, strangled to death, or, 
surrounded by horses and lines, led an unwilling cap- 
tive to the rancho of the hunter. Some of these en- 
counters have been most desperate and hard. fought. 
Lassoing grizzly bears is attended with great danger, 
and few persons knowing the immense strength of 
these animals desire to experiment upon such game. 
But the Mexican fears nothing when armed with the 
reata and mounted upon his horse. 

Cattle, as well as all other live stock in California, 



348 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



run at large, are never housed, nor receive food, except 
what nature provides for them. 

During- extremely dry seasons, when the pasturage 
becomes scarce, and the soil almost parched, cattle 
suffer for want of food : at such periods, large numbers 
are driven to the mountains, generally to the Sierras, 
where the natural meadows and wild grasses keep 
green during the greater part of summer. 

Farmers have been in the habit of burning their 
straw upon the field in the fall: of late years, straw 
has been more generally heaped up in the fields, some- 
times under large sheds. During the drought of sum- 
mer and the cold rains of winter, cattle gather round 
these stacks and keep in good condition, while those 
having to depend upon what they can gather from the 
parched soil often suffer. 

The number of neat cattle in the State is about 
one million; the largest number in any one county is 
in Merced — sixty thousand ; the next largest numbers 
are in Kern, Tulare, Colusa, and San Diego. Marin 
county contains about twenty-four thousand head of 
cattle, and is the greatest dairy county in the State. 
The celebrated ranche (farm) of the Shafter Brothers, 
containing seventy-five thousand acres, is in this county: 
this is supposed to be the largest dairy farm in the 
world. There are no "dairy-maids" in California, milk- 
ing and butter and cheese making being done by men. 

The whole State produces about six million pounds 
of butter annually, and one-third of this whole amount 
is produced in Marin county, which has but about 
twenty-four thousand neat cattle, all told, out of one 
million, in the State. Merced county, with sixty thou- 



CATTLE AND HORSES. 349 

sand head of cattle, produces but about nine thousand 
pounds of butter annually, California produces about 
five million pounds of cheese annually. Santa Clara 
and Monterey counties produce jointly three million 
pounds, leaving but two million pounds to the entire 
remainder of the State. Santa Clara county makes as 
much cheese as all the State, outside of Santa Clara 
and Monterey counties; Santa Clara county has but 
twenty-two thousand cattle, seven thousand of which 
are cows. 

Spanish cows give but little milk, and in many of the 
southern counties, where immense herds of cattle roam, 
milk, butter, and cheese are unknown. The squatter 
and ranchero have their frail abodes solitary and alone 
on the vast plain, or by the side of some sluggish stream 
or tule bottom; and here they raise their children, with- 
out ever tasting milk, butter, or cheese. It is a strange 
commentary upon domestic economy to see vast droves 
of cows, calves and all, running wild, fairly swarming 
the country, and surrounding the houses in which dwell 
sickly and green-looking women, who live upon hot 
biscuits rank with saleratus, squash and salt bacon — 
they and their children — without knowing the use or 
benefits of the dairy. In one portion, at least, of the 
southern counties, where cattle are so numerous that 
they swarm around the telegraph poles to scratch them- 
selves in such numbers that they cut down the poles 
for miles, although they are made of eight-inch-square 
sawed lumber, and in some instances driven thick with 
spikes, the cattle swarming round them in a circle, and 
each one giving a rub in its hurried march; yet in this 
section the traveller, for a journey of two hundred 



350 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

miles, cannot get a taste of butter or cheese, nor milk 
to color his black and bitter coffee. 

Notwithstanding the genial climate, wide range, and 
splendid pasturage of California, fully one-third of all 
the butter used in the State is imported from the At- 
lantic States; this, too, is the case with Oregon, Wash- 
ington Territory, and British Columbia. The people 
of these regions send their orders from their perpetual 
green fields and rich pasturage to New York and even 
to the icy land of Canada for their butter. This, per- 
haps, is not worse than sending to Boston, New York, 
and Philadelphia for dried fruits, from California and 
Oregon, when thousands of tons of green fruit can be 
gathered in the orchards of these States, and bought 
for less than the freigfht from the east. Throug-h most 
parts of the Pacific coast dried fruits are imported 
thousands of miles at great cost, while the ground in 
many orchards is covered with superior fruit, which 
rots in tons every year. 

The Horse. — Of all parts of the world California is 
the favorite land for the horse : here he has for centu- 
ries roamed at will over the vast rich valleys, where the 
native grass, flowers, and wild oats grow luxuriantly. 

Previous to the American occupation of the country, 
the horse was not doomed to the servile labor of draw- 
ing the plow or wheeled carriage, as no such articles 
were known to the population : his only occupation was 
to carry his master upon his back ; stables and harness 
were equally unknown. 

The original stock introduced into the country from 
Spain and Mexico possessed excellent qualities for 
the saddle, being light bodied, high spirited, and fleet. 



THE HORSE. 35 1 

After roaming wild in great bands, without any care, 
the stock soon degenerated to all sorts of base colors — 
claybank, drab, and spotted ; leaving few of the deep 
bay, iron-gray, pure white, or jet black: still the spirit, 
endurance, and speed of the original Spanish stock 
remained, and, while the California horse became un- 
fitted for heavy draught, he became the finest saddle- 
horse in the world, able to carry his rider sixty and one 
hundred miles in a day over a rough road, and perform 
these journeys several days in succession, without other 
food than could be gathered from the soil on his journey. 

The California horse rarely trots or walks : his gait, 
under the saddle, is a fast gallop, which he will keep 
up, over hill and down mountain sides alike, through a 
whole day's journey, and generally pressing hard on 
the rein, the whip or spur being rarely necessary. 

Breakinof these horses to the saddle is attended with 
much difficulty. Many of them at four, five, and even 
ten years of age have never been within an enclosure, 
nor had the hand of man upon them. They are lassoed, 
like other wild beasts, blindfolded, a saddle and bridle 
put upon them, and then mounted by the vaquero, 
(rider.) Rearing, pitching, rolling, and jumping stiff- 
legged, until they are completely exhausted, is a part 
of their first exercise. They are, however, soon broken 
to the saddle, and from the commencement of their 
training rarely exhibit a vicious disposition, and, when 
once fairly broken, are kind, gentle, and fond of their 
master. 

Horses in California Increase fast, and are entirely 
free from disease : bots, worms, spavin, ringbone, and 
kindred diseases, are almost unknown. The evenness 
of the climate, with an abundance of good, wholesome 



352 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

food, and freedom from unwholesome and close stables 
and attacks of colds, renders the horse healthy, muscular, 
sound, and hardy beyond the horses of any other part 
of the United States, if not of any other part of the world. 

Of the three hundred thousand horses in California, 
fully one-half are wild Mexican stock, running in large 
bands throughout the southern part of the State. Many 
thousand are owned by persons who know them only 
by the brand. 

Throughout the State generally the horse is an in- 
dispensable domestic servant. Everybody rides: men 
going to their employment in the fields mount their 
horses ; neighbors visiting, and children going to school 
in the country, all ride. It is rare to see a person 
making a journey on foot, except in the mining regions. 

California has many fine roads, and to all parts of the 
interior the chief travel is done by stages — large, com- 
fortable Concord coaches — carrying from twelve to 
twenty persons, and drawn by four or six horses. 
Relays of fresh horses are kept at each ten or twelve 
miles on the road, and while in the coach are generally 
at a gallop, and the speed with which these horses dash 
down the mountain sides, and over and along the deep 
gulches and beside the frowning precipices, is fearful. 

In the cities and towns, horses are very numerous, 
and in San Francisco county (which is but the size of 
the city) there are over ten thousand horses. Los 
Angeles county has the largest number of horses of 
any county in the State — fifteen thousand. 

There being neither timothy nor clover in California, 
the native grasses, wild oats, oats, and barley, cut green, 
form the hay-feed of horses. Barley, which grows very 
abundantly, and has a very large, dry, and plump grain, 



MULES AND HOGS. 'i^J^'T, 

Is supplied to horses generally, and is supposed to be 
superior to oats for this purpose. 

The introduction of superior horses into the State is 
fast improving the native stock, and the cross between 
the imported and native horse has many points of 
superiority not to be found in either in their original 
purity. 

Mules are not generally used in the State. At an 
early day the carrying of freight into the mines and 
over the mountains was done chiefly by pack-trains of 
mules ; but of late years rail and wagon roads have 
supplanted them. There are but about twenty-eight 
thousand mules in the State, scattered throueh each 
county; Mendocino county having about three thou- 
sand — more than double that of any other county in the 
State. Mules are no more serviceable than horses, 
and cost generally more than double as much as the 
ordinary farm-horse. Much of the heavy hauling and 
of the labor connected with the government service is 
still done by mules. 

Oxen are rarely used, either upon the farm or for 
general labor, in California ; they are considered too 
slow, and except in the lumber districts are scarcely to 
be seen. All the ploughing and farm work is done by 
horses and mules. 

Hogs. — The greater part of the State of California is 

not well adapted for hogs: it is too dry ; but in the tule 

and low lands they thrive well. Labor and food for 

hogs are too expensive to make the raising of hogs 

profitable where they have to be fed by hand. There 

are six hundred thousand hogs in the State ; still the 

increase has been but little for many years. Considera- 
23 



154 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



ble quantities of bacon and ham are cured in the State; 
and as the Chinese in the country use no other meat 
but fresh pork, much of the pork of the State is con- 
sumed by these people. 

Poultry — Turkeys, geese, ducks, and hens all thrive 
well in California, and many a fortune has had its foun- 
dation laid in the hen's nest, in the State, in the early 
days when eggs were from three to ten dollars per 
dozen, and chickens from two to ten dollars per pair. 
The aggregate number of turkeys, geese, ducks, and 
fowls in the State is one million five hundred thousand. 

Bees. — Bees do well all over the Pacific coast. In 
Oregon they make honey from the branches of the fir 
trees; and in California the mild climate and the abun- 
dance of wild flowers enable bees to make honey eight 
to ten months in the year, and to propagate their species 
with great rapidity, one hive often producing twenty 
swarms in a year. The production of honey in Cali- 
fornia is much greater than In any other part of the 
United States, and is about five times as much as Is 
produced In the Atlantic States. There are about sixty 
thousand hives in California, Colusa county having six- 
teen thousand — more than one-fourth of all the hives 
in the, State : then comes Butte county, with twenty- 
five hundred hives ; next comes Stanislaus county, with 
about two thousand hives ; and Monterey and Los 
Angeles counties, with about eighteen hundred each. 
Bees will thrive well in every county in the State. 

In the southern section of California great quantities 
of bees have swarmed in the trunks of hollow trees 
and become wild. There are great quantities of honey 
obtained annually from these deserters. 




THE GIANTESS GEYSER. 



THE GREAT GEYSER OF THE FIRE-HOLE 
BASIN. 
(Yellowstone Region, Wyoming Territory. Line of the Northern Pacific Railroad.) 




BRIDAL VEIL FALL, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 
(630 feet high.) 




NOTRII DOME AND ROYAL ARCHES, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 
(3,56s feet high above the Valley.) 



MANUFACTURES. 355 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Natural advantages — Regularity of climate — Perpetual summer — 
Advantages for manufacturing — Interest on money — Manufacto- 
ries — Railroads first in California — Great overland railroad : build- 
ing and completion of — Government aid in bonds and lands to 
railroads — "The last tie" — Rejoicings at the completion of the 
great national highway — Ocean, bay, and river navigation — Ship- 
building — Telegraphs, postage, and post-offices — United States 
branch mint — Circulating medium — Mmts on the Pacific coast — 
Navy-yard — Commerce — Exports of gold and merchandise — Ag- 
ricultural and mechanical products — Decline in gold-mining — 
Shipping of San Francisco — Imports and exports — Effects of the 
overland railroad. 

California possesses many natural advantages 
beyond most other States in the Union, which must 
ultimately be productive of great benefits. The water- 
power of the dashing streams of the Sierras alone is 
greater than the whole water-power of New England; 
the Coast Range, too, particularly north of San Fran- 
cisco, as well as many other parts of the State, has 
vast water-power, only waiting the hand of skilled labor 
to call it into turning the wheels of an active manufac- 
ture which must at some day not far distant form an 
important branch of the industry of the State; nor are 
these magnificent water-powers subjected to the pinch- 
ing frosts of v/inter, which for so many months in the 
year bind up the forces of the streams, clog the wheels, 
and hold in icy embrace the industry of large sections 
of the Atlantic coast. 

The room of the operative need not be heated with 
air-consuming stoves and ranges, nor the apartments 
filled with foul air, caused by closed doors and windows; 
nor the operative himself imprisoned in dark cells or 



356 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Steam closets to keep the animal forces active. The 
climate of the entire State Is so mild and the tem- 
perature so even that the severe colds and diseases 
engendered by the sudden changes of the weather 
in the Atlantic States are entirely unknown in Cali- 
fornia. 

Neither chilllno- northern blasts nor driftlna- snows 
drive over bleak and barren fields, pinching animal life 
into trembling and contracted contortions, nor frosting 
the windows and whitening the forests. Winter's gray 
locks are not shaken with terrible menace in the face 
of the poor, nor is the approach of the new year looked 
forward to with contemplations of dreaded cold. Cali- 
fornia at this season asserts her eternal summer by new 
robes of green, and the window of the cotter, instead 
of the ice-crystallizations and snow-bank adornments 
of the Atlantic slope, are festooned and adorned with 
running vines, ivy, and delicate flowers. 

Throughout the State, wherever mechanical skill is 
'•exercised and manufactures are carried on, the bene- 
ficial effects of a genial climate and rich soil are mani- 
fest by the ease, comfort, and increasing prosperity of 
the mechanic. With all the natural advantages of Cali- 
fornia for manufacturing, but little advance has been 
made, except in the actual necessities for every -day 
consumption and of the commonest articles of domestic 
use. The cause of this has been the high rates of 
wages, the sparse population, and the high rates of in- 
terest, want of cheap transportation, and many other 
causes incident to a new country. 

The crushing of quartz, cabinet work, sawing of lum- 
ber, casting of iron, and making of flour form the chief 



MA NUFA CTURES. 357 

mechanical industry of the State ; and, although most 
of the raw material necessary in a varied manufacturing 
industry is produced in great abundance in California — 
metals, wood, leather, wool, and other articles — yet the 
State cannot compete in manufactures with the old, 
settled portions of America, Europe, and Asia ; where 
cheap labor, low interest, and systematized skill offset 
the natural advantages of the Golden State. In many 
parts of Europe and Asia, capital for mechanical 
industry can be obtained at from three to seven per 
cent, per annum ; while in California, short loans, se- 
cured by good collateral, payable in sixty and ninety 
days, bear interest at from one to three per cent, per 
month. Still, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, Cali- 
fornia Is battling bravely in the field of mechanical in- 
dustry; and, although her manufactures are confined to 
a few articles, and within small limits, the efforts in pro- 
ducing woollen goods, cordage, powder, glass, paper, 
machinery, pottery, castings, shot, lead pipe, refined 
sugar, furniture, wood-ware, rolling stock, files, salt, 
fuse, soap, candles, glue, oil, matches, lime, cement, 
chemicals, boots and shoes, carriages, agricultural Im- 
plements, saddlery, matting, billiard tables, pianos, 
brooms, pails, books, clothing, cigars, spirits, ale, and 
wine form no Inconsiderable feature of the prosperity 
of the State. San Francisco is daily growing into Im- 
portance In manufacture, and, by degrees, as the price 
of labor becomes lower, and the one and a-half and two 
per cent, per month bankers relax their grip, and money 
can be obtained at reduced rates of interest, many 
branches of mechanical Industry now struggling for 
. recognition will become extensive and profitable. 



35$ THE GOLDEN STATE. 

RAILROADS. 

In 1 841, there were In the whole United States but 
3,535 miles of railroad in operation ; in 1850, but 8,876. 
In 1870, there were fifty thousand miles, of which the 
six New England States had 4,494, against 589 in 
1841; the six Middle States, 10,991, against 1,837 i^ 
1 841 ; the ten Western States, 23,769, against 196 in 
1 841; and the twelve Southern States, 12,468, against 
913 In 1 841 ; and the Pacific coast, which as late as 
1854 had not a foot and in 1855 but eight miles of rail- 
road, had, in 1870, 1,677, ^s follows: California, 925; 
Oregon, 159; and Nevada, 593; all of which have since 
largely increased, there now being thousands of miles of 
railroad projected through California, Oregon, Nevada, 
Washington Territory, Idaho, Arizona, and the entire 
coast, connecting all the principal towns, valleys, and 
harbors in the country. 

The first railroad built in California was the line of 
twenty-two miles from Sacramento City to Folsom, 
completed on the ist of January, 1S56. The building 
of other roads soon followed, until the present, when a 
lively competition has projected and has in active 
course of construction lines of road running in all di- 
rections from the great commercial centres of the State, 
until the rich agricultural valleys lying between the 
Coast Range and the Sierras, parallel with the ocean 
and these chains, are completely dotted with projected 
lines of rail running In all directions, all having connec- 
tion by land or water with San Francisco. 

South of the Golden Gate are lines runnlnc^ to San 
Jose and all sections along the southern coast of the 
State, eventually to reach San Diego, while lines tra- 



RAILROADS. 359 

verse the rich agricultural valleys of the San Joaquin 
and Tulare, destined to reach the Colorado and the 
Southern Pacific roads, sending their laterals in all di- 
rections to the towns, valleys, and mines on either side; 
while the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, having its start- 
ing point on the west side of the Mississippi at St. 
Louis, Missouri, follows the thirty-fifth parallel of north 
latitude, passing through Missouri, Indian Territory, 
New Mexico, and Arizona, crossing the Colorado, 
enters California, and, passing northwestward through 
the southern half of the State, reaches San Francisco. 
Farther south is the Southerii Pacific railroad, following 
from Memphis on the Mississippi a little west of the 
thirty-second parallel of north latitude westward through 
Arkansas, Texas, and the southern section of New 
Mexico and Arizona, crossing the Colorado river close 
to the Mexican line; thence west to the city of San 
Dieofo near the southern line of the State of California, 
where it proceeds northwestward until, like all the 
others, it finally reaches San Francisco. 

These two international roads, connecting the Pacific 
and the Atlantic, are being vigorously pushed to com- 
pletion ; and will, in their course, develop and settle the 
vast semi-tropical regions of Southern California and 
the rich mineral, agricultural, and grazing region be- 
tween the Colorado and the Mississippi through Ari- 
zona, New Mexico, Texas, and the Indian Territory, 
affording direct and certain communication, at all seasons 
of the year, between the Pacific and Atlantic; and, finally 
sending their branches into tropical Mexico, will open 
up new and rich avenues of exploration, commerce, and 
settlement, and eventually plant the flag of republican 
America over the area of the semi-republic of Mexico. 



36o 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



North and east of San Francisco are lines built and 
projected in all directions, leading through the valleys 
of the Coast Range to Humboldt and other points in 
the northern extreme of the State ; while lines, connect- 
ing by boat at San Francisco with Oakland, Vallejo, 
and San Rafael, lead east and north to all the principal 
interior towns and valleys, and extend finally to the 
Oregon State line, where they join lines of railroads 
through the rich valley of the Wallamet and other sec- 
tions of Oregon, and finally northward, crossing the 
Columbia river, and still on, across Washington Terri- 
tory, until they reach, by direct and continuous rail, 
every portion of the continent from Pictou and Halifax, 
Nova Scotia, Boston, St. Louis, Mexico, California, 
Oregon, and Washington Territory, right up to the 
British line on the Pacific ocean, at the forty-ninth de- 
cree of north latitude. 

CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

On the 8th day of January, 1863, ground was first 
broken at the city of Sacramento, California, and labor 
begun upon this national highway, which cuts the Sierras 
and Rocky mountains, spans vast plains, deserts, and 
prairies, and unites the Atlantic and Pacific by continu- 
ous iron rail. In its connections it forms a chain of 
road across the entire continent, a distance of three 
thousand three hundred and twenty-three miles, from 
San Francisco to New York city. It is eight hundred 
and eighty miles from San Francisco to Ogden, at the 
northern end of Great Salt lake, Utah Territory, which 
is the eastern end of this road; from this point eastward 
to Omaha, Nebraska, on the western bank of the Mis- 
scuri river, a distance of one thousand and thirty-three 




CAPE HORN — CENTRAL lACII'IC RAILRDAD, SIKKRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS. 
(Cars 2,500 feet above the American river, in the chasm below.) 



RAILROADS. 36 1 

miles, was built by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. 
At Omaha and Chicao-o connections are made with this 
road by various lines connecting with all parts of the 
West, east of Omaha, and all parts of the Atlantic sea- 
board, Canada, and the lower British provinces. 

The cars of this line do not run into the city of San 
Francisco, but have their terminus on a long wharf 
projecting three miles into the waters of the Bay of 
San Francisco at Oakland, in Alameda county, three 
miles distant, directly east from San Francisco. Large 
and elegant steam ferry-boats ply between these points 
every few minutes. At the town of Vallejo, twenty- 
eight miles northeast from San Francisco, in Solano 
county, on the shore of the distant waters of the bay, 
is also another terminus. Large and elegant steamers 
run between San Francisco and this point several times 
each day, carrying overland and way passengers and 
mail to the trains which run to Sacramento and on to 
the Atlantic States. 

The runninof time on these roads, forming the ereat 
overland line, is seven days from San Francisco to 
New York and Boston. 

In the construction of this road most formidable 
obstacles have been overcome : the Sierra Nevada 
mountains, long considered a barrier over and beyond 
which no road could pass, have been pierced by im- 
mense tunnels, their deep gulches spanned by bridges, 
and their frowning brows grooved for the foot of the 
iron horse. The dreaded Rocky mountains yielded to 
science and labor, and their precipitous and stern eleva- 
tions were climbed, and their rugged peaks flung into 
the torrents and gulches below. The greatest altitude 
on this line from San Francisco to New York is on the 



362 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

summit of the Rocky mountains, at Sherman, in Wy- 
oming Territory, on the Union Pacific road, 1,365 miles 
east of San Francisco. This point has an altitude of 
8,242 feet above the level of the sea. The highest point 
on the Central Pacific road, from San Francisco to 
Ogden, is in the Sierras, two hundred and forty-three 
miles from San Francisco, at Summit, and a few miles 
v/est of the eastern State line of California. At this 
point the altitude reaches a height of 7,017 feet above 
the level of the sea. 

This great national highway In Its course passes In a 
northeasterly direction from San Francisco, through 
the States of California and Nevada and a portion 
of Utah Territory, until it reaches Ogden, in Utah 
Territory, a little north of Great Salt lake. At this 
point the road runs almost due east, passing through 
the southern side of Wyoming Territory for its entire 
length, and through the entire length of Nebraska, fol- 
lowing the course of the Platte river, to Omaha; thence 
along the southern side of the State of Iowa, and 
through Illinois, to the city of Chicago, on the south- 
\vestern shore of Lake Michigan, where it joins the 
great network of railroads spreading over the entire 
country south, east, and north of this point. 

TJiis great continental highway was begun and Its 
construction vigorously prosecuted during the internal 
war in America, from 1861 to 1865; and throughout 
all that critical and eventful period received the foster- 
ing care and stimulus of the national government, and 
the people on both sides of the continent took the deep- 
est interest in Its success, and the States and Territo- 
ries through which It passes aided it financially In a 
most liberal manner. To the two companies building 



RAILROADS. 363 

the road — the Central Pacific on the California side, and 
the Union Pacific on the eastern side — the National 
Congress donated by grant, mfee simple, alternate sec- 
tions of land along the line of the roads of these two 
companies amounting to 1 2,800 acres per mile, for each 
mile built, from Sacramento to Omaha, or an aofsrreeate 
of 22,707,200 acres. Of this grant the Central Pa- 
cific received 8,832,000 acres, and the Union Pacific 
13,875,200 acres. 

The federal government also loaned to these two 
companies ^52,840,000 of six per cent, thirty years 
bonds, and guaranteed the interest on the companies' 
first mortgage bonds to an equal amount — the interest 
paid by government on these bonds to be paid back by 
the companies. These are the most munificent dona- 
tions ever made by any nation to any project or for 
any purpose in any age. The two companies build- 
ing this road built the number of miles, and received 
the amounts of the national donation, as follows: Cen- 
tral Pacific built six hundred and ninety miles and re- 
ceived ^24,386,000; the Union Pacific (from Ogden to 
Omaha) built 1,084 iriiles and received ^28,456,000. 
The grant was distributed per mile, according to the 
difficulty in constructing: over the plains, sixteen thou- 
sand dollars per mile ; second class, thirty-two thou- 
sand dollars per mile ; and for the mountains, forty- 
eight thousand dollars per mile. Of these classes of 
road the companies built as follows, (which will account 
for the seeming small proportion received by the Union 
Pacific Company:) the Central Pacific (California) built 
twelve miles at sixteen thousand dollars per mile, five 
hundred and twenty- two miles at thirty-two thousand 
dollars per mile, and one hundred and fifty-six miles at 



364 ^-^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

forty-eight thousand dollars per mile; the Union Pacific 
Company built five hundred and twenty-six miles at 
sixteen thousand dollars per mile, four hundred and 
eight miles at thirty-two thousand dollars per mile, and 
one hundred and fifty miles at forty-eight thousand 
dollars per mile. 

For more than half a century the subject of connect- 
ing the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the continent by 
rail had been agitated ; but the friends of such a scheme 
were ridiculed by those who contemplated the vast arid 
plains and the stern Rocky mountains and Sierras, con- 
sidered insurmountable barriers. Indeed, many of those 
who most zealously advocated the practicability of a 
railroad crossing these formidable mountain chains 
were regarded as insane, and not until the indomitable 
Californian had scaled the Sierras, and pierced their 
mighty granite ribs, did the people of the country 
become inspired with the possibility of uniting the 
East and the Pacific slope by rail; but the patient 
sons of the Orient, under the lead of American skill, 
toilinof through and over the Sierras, g-ave confidence 
to the people of the Atlantic side, who set their faces 
toward the setting sun, and advanced to meet the 
laborers marching east. 

The Central Pacific Company having completed the 
road from the waters of the Pacific to Promontory, in 
Utah Territory, and the Union Pacific Company having 
finished that from Omaha westward to Promontory, 
great preparations were made for celebrating the join- 
inof of the iron band connectlno- the East and the 
West. After six long years of unremitting toll, the 
task was ended: the army of eight thousand of the 
meek disciples of Confucius, headed by skilled engi- 



CONTINENTAL RAILROAD. 305 

neers, had subdued nature in the formidable Sierras; 
bridges spanned deep and av/ful gorges, and angry, 
foaming streams; long tunnels pierced solid granite 
domes, and deep scars found safe footing for the iron 
horse round the sharp curves of frowning granite bat- 
tlements and bold, projecting bluffs. The division from 
the East had passed the vast deserts dotted with neg- 
lected graves and the bleaching bones of the over- 
burdened beast which fell by the wayside, and climbed 
the stern sides of the Rocky mountains. It was a 
meeting of the extremes of the nation — the joining of 
the East and the West. The day came upon which the 
last tie and the last rail were to be put in place : trains 
from the East arrived from the shores of the Atlantic 
gayly bedecked with flags, mottoes, and devices of 
victory; and up from the Golden Gate, in the Far West, 
where the setting sun bathes in the calm waters of the 
Pacific, came the hardy sons of California, with . their 
callous hands and open hearts, to join their brothers of 
the East; from the East, dashing over vast plains, and 
bounding over the Rocky mountains, and from the 
West, over the eternal snows and through the storm- 
clouds of the Sierras, came the impatient steed, whose 
fiery breath and hoarse shriek put to flight the children 
of the forest. In this triumphal train from the West 
came the "last tie" — a polished laurel from the golden 
shore of California — and the "last spike," of pure gold 
from the rocks of the Sierras. In the midst of the vast 
concourse from the East and West, the almond-eyed 
son of Asia, facing East, and the sturdy Celt and 
Saxon, facing West, join hands, as with uncovered heads, 
beneath the ensign of the republic, and amidst the 
firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and screaming q.^. 



366 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

whistles, the last tie was laid and the last spike driven 
in the national highway joining the two great oceans. 

Extensive preparations had been made to celebrate 
the completion of this great work throughout the whole 
country. A telegraph station at the junction was so 
arranged that instant communication could be sent to 
all parts of the republic of the final joining of the rails, 
and the firing of guns by electricity at remote points. 

At twelve o'clock M., on the loth of May, 1869, the 
President of the Central Pacific road, with gold ham- 
mer in hand, stepped forward; a blessing was invoked 
by a clergyman present, all heads uncovered; a gentle 
blow of the hammer fell upon the last spike : the fric- 
tion of the blow fired a fifteen-inch Parrott gun at the 
Golden Gate, eight hundi^ed and eighty ndles distant, 
rang the bells in the cities of San Francisco, Chicago, 
New York, Boston, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and other 
places ; and the people throughout the land spent the 
day in rejoicing at the completion of the grandest work 
of man ever undertaken, and the greatest triumph of 
art over nature. 

The completion of this national highway must even- 
tually be of incalculable benefit to the whole country. 
Already has it brought what had seemed to be remote 
dependencies of the republic into close fellowship and 
active commercial relations with the Atlantic States, 
and brought the vast Pacific slope within easy support- 
ing;- distance of the nation in case of foreion invasion or 
internal rebellion. 

San Francisco has suffered from the immediate effects 
of the road in Its diverting the channels of travel and 
trade ; but what San Francisco loses will be more than 
gained by the State at large in its intercourse with the 



OCEAN, BAY, AND RIVER NAVIGATION. 367 

East, and in the establishment of commercial affairs 
upon a safer and more stable basis than has yet been 
known on the Pacific coast. 

The protracted snow blockade on the overland road 
during the greater part of the months of December, 
1871, and January and February, 1872, has demon- 
strated that but little interruption need be anticipated 
west of the Rocky mountains. On the entire line of 
1,341 miles from San Francisco to Laramie, a little west 
of the crest of the Rocky mountains, no interruption 
whatever has been experienced; although in the Sierras 
the road is 7,017 feet above the sea and snow falls from 
ten to forty feet in some places. 

The whole difficulty with snow on this road has been 
within a rang^e of two hundred miles of the crest of the 
Rocky mountains, extending about one hundred miles 
on each side. Here the altitude is from 7,000 to 
8,242 feet, and the fierce gale sweeping over the vast 
plains and mountains, bald, bleak, and dreary, without 
tree or shrub to interrupt it, drives snow hardened in 
its course and mixed with sand and gravel, filling the 
depressions in the road and banking the plains time and 
again, defying the feeble efforts of shovel and snow-plow. 

OCEAN, BAY, AND RIVER NAVIGATION. 

The inland waters of California are all well supplied 
with steamboats and sailing craft. The bay of San 
Francisco is navigated by steamboats — models of supe- 
rior skill, elegance, speed, and comfort. Ferry-boats 
ply in all directions from San Francisco about the bay 
and rivers, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin are 
navigated by swift and elegant boats. 

The inauguration of railroads in the State has re- 



363 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Ilevecl the people from the oppressive monopoly main- 
tained for twenty years on the inland waters of Cali- 
fornia by the " California Steam Navigation Company," 
which, during that period, had bought off more than 
07ie Juiudred steamers, most of which were tied up 
and allowed to rot along the river banks, while rates 
of passage and freight were maintained at fabulous 
and ruinous prices; while "opposition" steamers were 
bought off or sunk by the soulless corporation, which, 
while it paid millions to its stockholders, imposed 
a cruel oppression upon the people, believed in the 
aggregate to be a fit subject for plunder and Insult. 
During a brief period of "opposition" on the inland 
waters, passage would fall from ten dollars to one 
dollar, and even at times passengers would be carried 
between San Francisco and Sacramento and Stockton 
for fifty cents each, finally free, and in some instances 
they were paid a dollar a head to go on certain 
steamers, where free meals and cigars were supplied 
to all, and a choice band of music discoursed to 
happy crowds surrounded with festivities and flying 
flags. Those were seasons of joy for the "runner," 
whose hoarse voice and wild crrimaces startled and be- 
wildered the unoffending pedestrian, who found him- 
self and "baggage" swooped up and unceremoniously 
hurled on board the "accommodation" steamer. But 
these seasons were brief. Soon the "opposition" would 
quietly lie at the river bank or bottom of the bay, the 
flags would be lowered, music hushed, the excited 
crowd and wild "runners" dispersed, and, solitary, 
silent, and sad, the plodding "miner" approached the 
narrow plank, at the end of which a savage hireling 
grabbed his last ten dollars, thrusting him rudely by. 



' SHIP-BUILDING. 369 

Scores of sailinsf vessels are also engfasfed in navi- 
gating- the inland waters and coast of California, Oregon, 
Washington Territory, and all parts of the waters north 
and south of San Francisco, and the islands of the Pacific 
ocean, Mexico, Central and South America. 

Fleets of clipper ships, from all parts of the commer- 
cial v/orld, enter and depart through the Golden Gate, 
freighted with merchandise for California, and carrying 
away wheat, flour, copper, silver and other ores, hides, 
wool, wine, and other merchandise. 

Ocean steamers run regularly from San Francisco 
to every harbor of interest in the State, and lines of 
swift and elegant steamers ply between the city of San 
Francisco and Oregon, Washington Territory, British 
Columbia, Alaska, Japan, China, Sandwich islands, Aus- 
tralia, Mexico, and Central America. The steamers run- 
ning from San Francisco to China, Japan, and Panama, 
for elegance, speed, and capacity, are unequalled in the 
world, far surpassing any of the boats running between 
the Atlantic ports of America and Europe. 

On the 5th of May, 1870, the steamship Idaho arrived 
at San Francisco, from Honolulu, Sandwich islands, with 
freight and passengers which she received on board at 
the former port from the steamship Waiiga- Wanga, 
direct from Australia and New Zealand, being the pio- 
neer voyage of aline of steam communication established 
between San Francisco and Australia and New Zealand. 

SHIP-BUILDING. 

But little has been done in ship-building in California. 

Some river streams and small sailine craft have been 

constructed about the Bay of San Francisco, chiefly out: 

of timber taken from old vessels or imported from- 
24 



70 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Oregon, Washington Territory, or the Atlantic States. 
The higher rates of wages and exorbitant prices of all 
material necessary in the construction of vessels would 
be sufficient to retard this branch of industry in the 
State ; but the most serious drawback, and the one 
which must prohibit any success in ship -building in 
California, is the scarcity of the necessary timber so 
essential in this branch of industry. California furnishes 
but little timber fitted for ship-building. The oak of the 
State is of a coarse-grained, scrubby nature, shaky and 
liable to split very much when exposed to the sun ; and 
the knees and crooks so indispensable in every vessel 
cannot be found in any part of the State, and must be 
imported either from the Atlantic States or from Oregon, 
where an inferior article of fir, cedar, and oak knees and 
•crooks can with difficulty be obtained. The only timber 
in the State useful in ship-building is the fir of the north- 
ern portion of the State, which makes excellent plank 
for sides and deck. 

The whole Pacific coast is destitute of beech, birch, 
maple, hemlock, juniper, and Canada spruce, all of which 
supply the material for ship -building in such abun- 
dance and excellent quality in Maine and British North 
America. 

Puget sound, in Washington Territory, owing to its 
deep water and proximity to a better supply and greater 
variety of timber than is to be found on any other part 
of the Pacific coast, has the only inducements on the 
whole Pacific to offer to those interested in naval archi- 
tecture ; but the advance made in the past few years in 
constructing iron ships in the yards of Great Britain, 
for the mercantile service, must tend to materially 
lessen the value of wood for ship-building. 



TELEGRAPH. 37I 

TELEGRAPH. 

California is well supplied with telegraphs. There 
are over three hundred stations in the State, and com- 
munication can be had not only with every point of 
importance in California but also in Oregon, Nevada, 
Utah, Washington Territory, and British Columbia; and 
by the lines at San Francisco, connecting with those 
across the continent and the Atlantic submarine cable, 
the Pacific coast is in direct communication with all 
parts of the American republic and Canada, and also 
with Europe and Asia. Notice of events transpiring in 
St. Petersburg, London, and Paris are transmitted to 
San Francisco and the remotest parts of the Pacific 
coast, and the people of San Francisco are often treated 
to events transpiring in Asia, Europe, and the Atlantic 
side of America before the hour at which they actually 
take place : this is owing to the geographical position 
of the country, San Francisco being so far west. To 
illustrate : the sun rises at London, England, eight hours 
before it is seen at San Francisco ; so that, if an event 
transpires in England at four o'clock P. M., it is heard 
of in San Francisco about nine o'clock A. M., or about 
the hour merchants and others are entering their offices 
in the morning, or seven hozirs by San Francisco time 
before the event has happened ; and the events of Lon- 
don transpiring at noon may be known in San Fran- 
cisco about six o'clock on the morning before, and the 
events of five o'clock P. M. in London may be read in 
the morning papers in San Francisco at breakfast table, 
six or seven hours before the hour of the day in which 
they have transpired. 

The difference in time between Boston, Mass., and 



372 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



San Francisco, is about three hours, so that events 
transpiring- at Boston, New York, or any of the Atlantic 
cities, at noon, daily, are known at San Francisco be- 
tween nine and ten o'clock in the forenoon of the same 
day. 

During the late civil war in the country, the citizens 
of San Francisco would read at their breakfast tables, 
at nine o'clock A. M., of terrible battles having been 
fought in some part of the South at twelve o'clock, 
noon, or three houj's before they had taken place, accord- 
ing to the time in California. 

To further illustrate this subject will be found a time- 
table, showing the time of day at various places on the 
globe when it is twelve d clock, noon, at San Francisco: 



A. M. 

Astoria, Oregon 

Calcutta, India 

Canton, China 

Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, 

Melbourne, Australia 

Pekin, China 

Sydney, Australia 

Singapore, East Indies 

Shanghai, China 

Tobolsk, Siberia 

Yeddo, Japan 

Yreka, Cal 



" 55 12 



p. M. 

Acapulco, Mexico 

Archangel, Russia.... 
Aspinwall, Isthmus... 

Berlin, Prussia 

Boston, Mass 

Cape of Good Hope. 

Charleston, S. C 

Chicago, 111 

Cincinnati, O 

Constant! nople 

Detroit, Mich 

Eastport, Maine 



35 56 
43 00 
39 8 

48 (X) 

56 00 

14 00 

8 00 

12 40 

12 43 00 

5 '3o 00 

II 59 30 

1 26 28 
10 50 00 

2 50 40 
9 3 35 

3 25 48 
9 32 50 
2 50 40 
2 19 44 
2 32 16 

10 9 44 

2 38 12 

3 42 00 



Fort Yuma, Cal 12 31 18 

Frankfort, Germany 8 43 24 

Galveston, Texas I 50 32 

Geneva, Switzerland .'. 8 34 42 

Gibraltar, Spain 7 48 44 

Halifax, Nova Scotia 3 55 36 

Havana, Cuba 2 41 00 

Jerusalem, Palestine 10 31 24 

Lima, Peru 3 i 36 

London, England 8 9 31 

Los Angeles, Cal 12 16 30 

Louisville, Ky 2 27 4 

Mexico, Mexico i ^2> 44 

Mecca, Arabia lO 50 00 

Montreal, Canada 3 15 44 

New Orleans, La 2 9 40 

New York city 3 14 00 

Nevada,Cal 12 5 15 

Oregon City, Oregon 12 040 

Panama, Isthmus 2 52 40 

Paris, France 8 19 24 

Philadelphia, Pa 3 9 22 

Placerville, Cal 12 6 18 

Portland, Me 3 29 8 

Rio Janeiro, Brazil 5178 



POSTAGE AND POST-OFFICES. 



\n 



p. M. H. M. S. 

Rome, Italy 903 

Sacramento, Cal 12 3 58 

Santa Fe, New Mexico 12 55 44 

Salt Lake City 12 41 40 

St. Louis, Mo 294 



St. Petersburg 10 11 20 

Stockholm, Sweden 9 22 20 

Toronto, Canada 2 52 00 

Vienna, Austria 9 15 35 

Washington, D. C 3 2 <X) 



POSTAGE AND POST-OFFICES. 

Previous to the acquisition of California, there was 
not a post-office in the territory. The official docu- 
ments to and from Mexico, as well as the correspond- 
ence of the missionaries, were taken by special car- 
riers; and as there were no newspapers published or 
circulated in the country, there was but little need of 
postal facilities. The few foreigners in the country 
would send or receive an occasional letter by some 
trader or whale-ship touching on the coast. 

So soon as the United States asserted authority over 
the territory, the newspaper press commenced opera- 
tions, and post-offices were established in the country; 
but at this early day, and for many years subsequent, 
all mail matter to the Pacific coast had to cross the 
Isthmus of Panama, thence by steamer to San Fran- 
cisco; from twenty-four to thirty days being occupied in 
the voyage from New York to San Francisco. It gen- 
erally required from sixty to ninety days from the date 
of writing a letter to the receipt of an answer by the 
Isthmus route. Postage on the half- ounce in those 
days was ten cents, when the distance was over three 
hundred miles. The arrival of the semi - monthly 
steamer at San Francisco was an event celebrated by 
the firing of guns and the ringing of bells, and the 
signal for a general rush of the inhabitants to the post- 
office, where long lines of anxious letter-seekers would 
take their position, "first come, first served" being the 



374 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

rule; and woe betide the unfortunate wretch whose 
temerity caused him to attempt to break the restless, 
anxious, swaying line of the gray-shirt brigade swinging 
in long lines from the post-office windows. 

As these lengthening columns swayed and wriggled, 
sometimes a-half mile in length, great anxiety and im- 
patience were often manifested by persons wishing to 
get to the all-important window of the post-office; 
rugged miners, who had not perhaps for a year heard 
a word from home, and anxious merchants, whose fate 
depended upon their letters and invoices, seeing no 
hope of approaching the office for hours, would offer 
sums to buy out some fortunate one "in the line;" from 
five to twenty dollars were average prices, but fifty and 
one hundred dollars were often paid for a good position 
nigh the window. Prices would be in proportion to the 
length of the line, or the anxiety of individuals. The 
expression of countenance of some of those paying 
highest rates, when forced to leave the window without 
a letter, is beyond description. "Selling out" in the 
line soon became a trade, and many an impecunious 
individual pocketed his ten or twenty dollars three or 
four times during the day by selling out and hitching 
on to the line again. 

Cases, too, have not been unfrequent where over- 
anxious individuals, in search of letters, would take 
their position at the post-office window one or two days 
before the arrival of the expected steamer, often passing 
the entire night standing watching the window, and only 
leaving it when forced to seek food and drink. It often 
befell these faithful sentinels that, during the brief ab- 
sence from their post, the steamer's gun would fire, and, 
after a break-neck race of a few minutes, they would be 



POSTAGE AND POST-OFFICES. 375 

forced to attach themselves to the extreme end of a 
line from a quarter to half a mile in length. 

Great relief was experienced some years since by 
the establishment of the "Pony Express," which carried 
letters from the Missouri river to San Francisco in 
twelve to fifteen days, at twenty-five cents the half 
ounce. This express continued to carry letters be- 
tween the roads building from the East to the West 
until the completion of the road in 1869; when the 
rider of the fleet pony dismounted, handed his mail- 
bags to the rider of the tireless iron-horse, who rides 
over the posting winds and gallops over the storms of 
the Sierras. 

Mails are now received at San Francisco each day, 
in seven days, from New York, Boston, and Philadel- 
phia. There are four hundred and fifty post-offices 
now in California. 

UNITED STATES BRANCH MINT. 

In 1854, a United States Branch Mint was established 
at San Francisco. Previous to this period, much incon- 
venience was experienced throughout the State for 
want of a circulating medium. Gold-dust, at sixteen 
dollars per ounce, was generally received and paid in 
all matters of business. Individuals had resort to 
making coins of pure gold, which passed current in the 
country: of this class were the fifty dollar pieces called 
"slugs," octagon In form and made of pure gold, but 
now entirely out of use. 

A magnificent granite and free stone building for a 
new mint, to cost two million dollars when completed, 
is nigh finished. 

The mint at San Francisco has been kept constantly 



2,^6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

employed since its establishment in 1854, and has 
issued an aggregate of ^306,074,663.98 in gold and 
silver coin from its opening until the ist of January, 
1872. Of the total mint coinage, ^298,245,706.81 was 
gold and ^7,828,957,17 was silver. The coinage of 
gold and silver for the year 1870 was ^20,355,000; 
and for 1871 it was ^20,041,775, of which ^18,905,000 
was gold and ^1,136,775 was silver. 

Until within a few years past, twenty-five cents was 
the smallest coin in circulation in any part of the Pacific 
coast. More recently, ten cent pieces have gone into 
use ; and still more recently, five cent pieces, although 
the latter are scarce, and it may be said that, throughout 
California and the whole Pacific coast, ten cents is the 
smallest coin in general circulation. 

Paper money has never been used to any extent in 
California, and the Constitution of the State prohibits the 
making, issuing, or putting in circulation any bill, check, 
ticket, certificate, promissory note, or the paper of any 
bank, or the issuing of paper in any form, as money; 
hence all the banking and business of the country is 
done in o;old and silver coin, the latter beinsf at a oreat 
discount and declined if offered in large quantities. 
The securities and paper money of the federal gov- 
ernment, "greenbacks," bonds, &c., are used in many 
instances in business, and are bought and sold as other 
securities. 

Beside the gold and silver of California, considerable 
amounts of bullion reach the mint at San Francisco 
annually from all the States and Territories west of the 
Rocky mountains — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, 
Oregon, Idaho, Washington Territory, and British 
Columbia. 



COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION: 377 

The increasinof demand for mintincr facilities on the 
Pacific coast has induced the federal government, 
within a few years, to establish a branch mint, in 1864, 
at Denver, Colorado ; one at Carson City, Nevada, in 
1869; and one now (1872) in course of erection at 
Dalles, on the Columbia river, Oregon. 

NAVY YARD. 

At Mare island, twenty-eight miles from San Fran- 
cisco by steamer, and in the direction of Sacramento 
from San Francisco, the federal government has estab- 
lished the most extensive navy yard in the republic. 
Thirty acres of land, on Mare Island, with an extensive 
water-front, is owned by the United States : upon this 
are erected laro;e and substantial brick buildlnes, for all 
the purposes of the yard. There is an excellent dry- 
dock at these works, where all the repairing of the 
Pacific squadron is done. The works and grounds 
here have been projected upon a scale adequate to the 
growing interests of the Pacific side of the republic. 

COMMERCE. 

In preceding chapters will be found statements of 
the commercial transactions of California under Spanish, 
Mexican, and early American rule. The Internal Im- 
provements constantly going on in the State, In build- 
ing railroads, factories, and the varied local industries, 
together with the establishment of steam communi- 
cation to all parts of the Pacific coast, the Pacific islands, 
Asia, and Australia, are fast giving California a promi- 
nent commercial position. 

In the early history of the State, when gold was the 
only export, and every article of food and consumption 



378 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



had to be imported, and all the gold was sent out of the 
country, exports presented very formidable figures. 

California, in 1853, yielded sixty-five million dollars in 
gold, and exported fifty-seven million dollars; only two 
million dollars of which were merchandise. California 
now yields annually but about twenty-five million dollars 
in gold. There were over thirty-two million dollars in 
gold shipped from San Francisco in 1870; but a great 
portion of this found its way from the adjoining Pacific 
States and Territories to California, which latter State 
cannot be credited with more than sixteen million dol- 
lars export of gold of her own production, although her 
product was twenty-five million dollars. 

The following table exhibits the annual exports of 
merchandise and treasure, from the port of San Fran- 
cisco, from 1848 to and including the year 1871 : 





MERCHANDISE. 


TREASURE. 


TOTAL. 


1848-50, 


;^2,ooo,ooo 


^66,000,000 


$68,000,000 


I85I, . . 


1,030,000 


45,989,000 


46,989,000 


1852, . . 


1,500,000 


45,779,000 


47,279,000 


1853, . . 


2,000,000 


54,965,000 


56,965,000 


1854, . . 


2,500,000 


52,045,633 


54,545,633 


1855, . . 


4,189,611 


45,161,731 


49,351,342 


1856, . . 


4,270,516 


50,697,434 


54,967,950 


1857, . . 


. 4,369^758 


48,976,692 


53,346,450 


1858, . . 


4,770,163 


47,548,026 


52,318,189 


1859, . . 


5'533>4ii 


47,640,462 


53,173,873 


i860, . . 


8,532,439 


42,325,916 


50,858,355 


I86I, . . 


9,888,072 


40,676,758 


50,564,830 


1862, . . 


. 10,565,294 


42,561,761 


53,127,055 


1863, . . 


. 13,877,399 


46,071,920 


59,949,319 


1864, . . 


. 13,271,752 


50,707,201 


68,978,953 


1865, . . 


. 14,554,130 


44,426,172 


58,980,302 


1866, . . 


. 17,281,848 


44,365,668 


61,647,516 


1867, . . 


22,421,298 


40,671,797 


63,093,09s 


I86S, . . 


. 22,844,235 


36,358,096 


59,202,331 



TRADE AND COMMERCE. 



379 





MERCHANDISE. 


TREASURE. 


TOTAL 


1869, . . 


. 20,846,349 


37,287,114 


58,133.463 


IS70, . . 


. 17,769,742 


32,983.139 


50,752,881 


IS7I, . . 


. 13,992,283 


17,253,346 


31,245,629 



Totals, $207,978,300 $985,491,866 $1,193,470,166 

The exports overland, since 1870, not being- included 
here, makes the amounts appear small. It will be seen 
by the foregoing how steadily the export of gold has 
decreased, and how steadily the export of merchandise 
has inci^eased. It may still seem strange to the reader 
that the aggregate exports of California have decreased 
since 1853. In that year the aggregate export of the 
State was ^56,965,000, against ^50,752,881 in 1870 — 
a decrease of ^6,212,191 per annum in sixteen years; 
but it must be remembered that the gold product of the 
State is forty million dollars less per annum now than 
it was sixteen years ago ; and that the mechanical and 
agricultural industries of the country have to make up 
this deficit. Besides, the growth in and development of 
wealth represented in farms, orchards, vineyards, cities, 
schools, and the aggregate of real and personal property 
in the State had no existence in 1853, as compared with 
the present wealth of the State already alluded to. Nor 
is the wealth of California, as it is to-day, so easily pro- 
duced as in the times when the gold-fields yielded their 
first and richest harvest. The exports of the early 
period when almost every thing produced in the State 
was shipped out of it, and when there were no local 
industries in the country, if compared with the exports 
of the present time, will not convey a correct idea of 
the wealth or prosperity of California. 

If the agricultural and mechanical productions of 
California be compared with the yield of gold in the 



380 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

palmiest days of the State, it will be found that these 
branches of industry are fast gaining on the richest 
yields of the State, and completely eclipsing the gold 
product of to-day. 

The agricultural productions of California are esti- 
mated at thirty million dollars for the year 1872, and 
the value of manufactured articles in the State for the 
same period at thirty-one million dollars, making an 
aggregate of sixty-one million dollars per annum — a 
larger sum than has been produced from the mines of 
California in any one year since the discovery of gold, 
except the year 1853, and thirty- six million dollars 
greater than the gold product of the State at the present 
period. Adding the agricultural, mechanical, and gold 
products of 1872, we have an aggregate of eighty-one 
million dollars, or twenty-one million dollars more than 
the annual yield of gold in any year since 1848. If we 
add to these productions the real estate and personal 
property of California, valued at three hundred million 
dollars, some idea of the increasing wealth of the State 
may be had. 

The tonnage entry of the port of San Francisco, for 
the year 1871, was 3,519 vessels of all classes, including 
the coastino; fleets, and asfSfreoratinof one million tons. 
Of the one hundred million pounds of tea finding its 
way from China and Japan into the United States an- 
nually, twenty-two million pounds enter the port of 
San Francisco, and is transported East by rail. 

The completion of the Pacific and Atlantic railroad 
in 1869 has wrought great changes in the commercial 
affairs of California, in placing the merchants of the 
State in constant and speedy communication with the 
great manufacturing centres of the Atlantic States and 



TRADE AND COMMERCE. 38 1 

Europe; relieving importers, to a degree, of the tedious 
and uncertain voyages by the Isthmus of Panama and 
Cape Horn, and placing the public beyond the reach of 
the monopolist, whose fortune depends upon the dangers 
of the seas and the winds that baffle the mariner. 

Another change wrought in the commercial affairs 
of the State is diversion of trade from San Francisco. 
Previous to the completion of the railroad, San Fran- 
cisco was the only outlet in the State. Every person 
leaving the coast, either for Europe or the Atlantic 
States, was obliged to come first to San Francisco; so 
all the merchandise, intended for the State, had also to 
enter San Francisco. Now persons in the interior take 
the cars at their homes along the road; so the interior 
merchants, from the Bay of San Francisco to Utah, 
order their goods overland, having them dropped at 
the stations along the road, much to the detriment of 
San Francisco, which, owing to the causes here men- 
tioned, has great cause, at least for the present, to re- 
gret the completion of a road, which, while it redounds 
vastly to the benefit of the State, has temporarily pros- 
trated the business of the merchants of San Francisco. 

Among the articles of export of the State, in 1871, 
were seven hundred and fifty thousand gallons of wine 
and eighty thousand gallons of brandy, a great portion 
of which went East to all parts of the Adantic States 
by rail. 



382 THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Education — Free schools — Schools in San Francisco — Cost of School 
Department — Chinese schools — Indian slaves — National education 
— Agricultural colleges — State university — Agricultural societies — 
Reform, deaf, dumb, and blind schools — Newspapers — Books — 
Libraries — Literature — Protective and benevolent societies — Re- 
ligion — Prisons and crimes — Asylums — Governors of California — 
Laws — Lawyers — Doctors — Divines. 

The American pioneers of California, although far 
from the seat of civilization, had not forgotten the early- 
precepts of their ancestors, that the foundations of 
American freedom were laid upon the universal intelli- 
gence of the people; so that, in the moulding of the 
new State from the crude fragments of a Spanish semi- 
civilization into well-ordered and active progress, and 
building up the pillars of the new nation on the Pacific, 
the spirit and genius of ripest progress are visible, and 
most effectually woven into the fabric of the organic 
law of the State. 

The free school system, established by law in 1851, 
has extended to every county, village, and town in Cali- 
fornia; and the neat school-house in the remote interior, 
on every hillside and valley, with efficient teachers, 
trained in the Normal school of the State, affords ample 
facilities to every child, regardless of race, color, or 
birthplace, to obtain a free education. In all the de- 
partments of public education, California is second to 
no State in the Union. At the heads of the educa- 
tional departments, generally, are found men of char- 
acter and culture, and the teachers, as a class, are 
equally competent as the teachers in any of the At- 




LINCOLN SCHOOL HOUSE, SAX FRANCISCO, iS/j 
(.Accommodation, ii;o Boys. Cost $100,000.) 




FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IX SAX FRANCISCO 
(On Portsmouth Square, 1S47.1 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 383 

lantic States; and the school buildings generally are 
large, elegant, and comfortable, and, in San Francisco, 
are not surpassed in capacity and appointments in any 
city in the Union. 

In the public institutions of the State not only are 
the ordinary branches of an English education taught, 
but in the cities cosmopolitan schools are maintained, 
where foreign languages form a part of the instruction. 

Besides the other educational Institutions maintained 
by the State Is a university, established at Oakland, 
where a full college course is afforded free to all who 
choose to enter. There is also a law and medical 
school attached to this institution. A State No^nnal^ 
school, with all the modern Improvements, and of most 
spacious and elegant dimensions, recently built at the 
beautiful city of San Jose, fifty miles south of San Fran- 
cisco, educates and graduates, as professional teachers, 
those of both sexes who enroll themselves for that 
profession. . There is also a reform school at San 
Francisco; and an educational institution for deaf, dumb, 
and blind (the only one west of the Rocky mountains) 
a short distance from Oakland. 

San Francisco, the great metropolis of the Pacific 
coast, with its 149,473 Inhabitants, (1870,) has become 
famous for its public school institutions ; and at the 
present period presents a striking illustration of the 
progressive genius of the cosmopolitan population of 
that youthful but expanding city. 

Prior to the occupation of California by the Ameri- 
cans, not a school existed In the whole country, except 
those maintained by the Jesuits for the conversion of 
the Indians; but no sooner had the stars and stripes 
floated over the land than institutions of free education 



3S4 ^•^-^•^ GOLDEN STATE. 

and free worship clustered around the dwellings of the 
pioneer. 

The first American school established In San Fran- 
cisco was a private one, opened In April, 1847, ^y Mr, 
Marsten, who is entitled to the honor of being the first 
"Yankee school-master" on the Pacific coast. The 
school was opened In a little shanty, to twenty or thirty 
pupils. In the fall of 1847, ^^ citizens of San Fran- 
cisco organized a public school and erected a small 
one-story school-house. 

This humble building subsequently served for a 
church for the first preaching of the Protestant religion 
in California, the first theatre, court-house, station- 
house, &c. 

On the 3d of April, 1848, the Rev. Thomas Douglas 
opened a private school ; organized, however, as a pub- 
lic school. The summer of 1848 found Douglas' school 
closed, and all the pupils large enough to travel, 
parents, and teacher on the march to the gold-fields 
of the rivers and gulches of the foot-hills of the Sierras. 
On the 23d of April, 1849, the Rev. Albert Williams 
opened a select school, which he taught for a few 
months only ; and, in October following, Mr. and Mrs. 
J. C. Pelton opened a private school, which, in April, 
1850, was made a public school, and Mr. Pelton and 
his wife were employed by the common council of the 
city, at a monthly salary of five hundred dollars. From 
this period forward to the present time, San Francisco 
has gone steadily onward in her public schools, until 
her beautiful school edifices adorn every hill-side and 
look out upon the placid waters of the Pacific ocean 
from every quarter. ' 

On the 30th of June, 1870, there were 45,617 chil- 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 385 

dren in San Francisco under fifteen years of age ; of 
whom 27,055 were between the ages of five and fifteen 
years. To accommodate these there were fifty-eight 
public schools; three hundred and sixty-nine teachers — 
three hundred and twelve females and fifty-four males. 
The amount expended in the city for public school pur- 
poses during the year ending June 30, 1870, was 
^522,500 in gold; and the total expenditure for this 
purpose in the city for the eighteen years of the exist- 
ence of free schools in San Francisco, to the beginning 
of 1 87 1, vjdisfour a7id a-quarter million dollars. 

Many of the school buildings in San Francisco sur- 
pass in elegance and capaciousness the schools of any 
Atlantic city. There are seven hundred and twenty 
pupils taught in a school building on Silver street, the 
Rincoji school (girls' grammar) has six hundred young 
lady pupils ; Lincoln school, named after Abraham Lin- 
coln, is exclusively a boys' school, and numbers 1,150 
pupils; the Demnan school (girls' grammar) has seven 
hundred young ladies ; and other school buildings of 
great capacity are in contemplation and are being con- 
stantly erected. 

Colored or negro children have a separate school, at 
which one hundred and forty-five children are taught. 

San Francisco maintains one school for the Chinese: 

this is the only free school maintained on the continent 

for the education of this race. The number of Mongolian 

children in the city under fifteen years of age in (1870) 

1,148, and the number of persons attending the Chinese 

school (many of whom are grown men) is two hundred 

and two. A library of 8,510 volumes, and valued at 

^10,469 — the property of the public schools of Saa 
25 



3 S 6 THE G OLDEN STA TE. 

Francisco — Is in the rooms of the Board of Education 
of the city. 

To convey a further idea of the extent to which public 
instruction is carried on in San Francisco, and the vast 
sums so wilHngly spent In the cause of education, a 
comparison between the value of public school property 
in the progressive city of Chicago and San Francisco 
may serve to Illustrate. At the end of 1870, the popula- 
tion of Chicago was 299,370, and that of San Francisco, 
149473, At this period the total valuation of the public 
school property of Chicago was $1,873,375 ; while San 
Francisco, with a population of only about half that of 
the former city, possessed In Its public school depart- 
ment property to the value of $1,729,800 — double as 
much in proportion to its population as the school prop- 
erty of Chicago. 

The report of the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction to 1870 shows that there were 1,144 school 
districts in the State, with 1,268 schools, in which there 
were employed 1,687 teachers — 970 males and 730 
females. The number of pupils enrolled was 73,744, 
and the average attendance of pupils, 56,715. 

The whole number of children In the State at that 
period, between five and fifteen years of age, was 
112,743, of whom 57,374 were boys and 55,369 were 
girls. Of this number 1 10,642 were white — 56,264 boys 
and 54,378 girls; and 838 negroes — 432 boys and 406 
girls. There were also of this number 1,263 Indian 
children — 678 boys and 585 girls — living under the 
guardianship of white persons. There were also at 
this period 57,983 children in the State under five years 
of age — 57,410 whites, 278 negro, and 295 domestic 



EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS. 387 

Indians; making a total of 1 70,726 children of all classes 
under fifteen years of age in the State in 1870. 

Of the 112,743 children between the ages of five and 
fifteen years but 67,834 had attended the public schools 
at any time during the year; of whom 67,307 were 
whites, 406 colored, and 121 Indians. There were at 
the same time attending private schools 16,273 children 
between five and fifteen years of age — 16,159. whites, 
sixty-nine colored, and forty-five Indians — making a total 
of 84,107 children of all classes between five and fifteen 
years of age attendant at school, and leaving 28,636 
of these ages who never enter a school. 

It will be seen that of the 838 colored children in the 
State but 475, or a little over one-half, were attending 
school; while of the 1,263 Indian children between the 
ages of five and fifteen years, said to be under the 
guardianship of whites, but 1 66 ever entered a school, 
leaving 1,097 without instruction. The fact is, that the 
greater part of these Indian children were bought from 
some of the tribes in the State and throughout portions 
of Oregon and Washington Territory, or kidnapped by 
some of the traders on the coast; and are held as slaves, 
without knowledge of parents, relatives, or kin. 

The number of Mongolian (Chinese) children in the 
State at this time, under fifteen years of age, was 1,470. 
There were seventy-nine deaf and dumb children be- 
tween the ages of five and twenty-one years, and thir- 
teen blind of the same a^e. The total valuation of the 
school property of the State was ^2,796,705.12, and the 
State expenditure for the school year of 1869 amounted 
to ^1,290,585.52 in gold. 

Sunday-schools, under the direction of zealous and 
competent teachers, are maintained throughout the 



388 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

whole Pacific coast; there being over two huriLlrcd 
Sunday-schools, with more than twenty-five thousand 
scholars, and four thousand officers and teachers, in 
California. There are in the State ten Sunday-schools 
for Chinese, having 363 teachers and 1,640 scholars, and 
an average attendance of 552. Most of these Chinese 
schools are in San Francisco, and are maintained by the 
different church organizations. The efforts of the teach- 
ers are chiefly directed toward teaching the English lan- 
guage. All the scholars in these schools are exclusively 
males, and many of them men of middle age. No 
female child or Chinese woman enters any school in 
Cahfornia; and no Chinese women, with but few excep- 
tions, engage in any occupation or employment save 
the plying of their vile and nameless profession. 

NATIONAL EDUCATION — THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AGRICUL- 
TURAL COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In the year 1862, Congress passed an act entitled 
"An act donating public lands to the several States 
and Territories which may provide colleges for the 
benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," which 
was approved, July 2, 1862, by President Lincoln; and 
which granted to each State, for such purpose, thirty 
thousand acres of land for each Senator and Repre- 
sentative in Congress, according to the apportionment 
under the census of i860, amounting in the aggregate 
to 9,510,500 acres. Besides these donations, Congress 
has, by donating the sixteenth and thirty-second sections 
in the States for school purposes, granted 69,066,808 
acres directly, and for internal improvement (generally 
given to the educational fund) granted an additional 
13,669,671 acres: thus making a total of 92,246,979 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 389 

acres (up to 1871) of the public domain donated to the 
cause of education in the Union. The act provides 
that all moneys realized by the sale of these lands 
(agricultural college) shall be invested in stocks of the 
United States, or of the States, and that only the in- 
terest thereof shall be expended for the purposes 
named. The Legislature of each State which accepts 
this bequest must establish one college of agriculture 
and the mechanic arts, erect suitable buildings, choose 
a faculty of professors, and prescribe such a course of 
study as will have a tendency "to promote the liberal 
education of the industrial classes in the several pur- 
suits and professions of life," by making the leading 
feature and objects of such instruction to be "to teach 
such branches of learnino^ as are related to agriculture 
and the mechanic arts," including "military tactics," and 
not excludinof "other scientific and classical studies." 
The design of Congress appears to have been to estab- 
lish a national American system of education for the 
benefit of the whole people. 

The Legislatures of twenty- three States have re- 
sponded to this magnificent donation of Congress, and 
have either established or commenced agricultural col- 
leges. The following States have organized indepen- 
dent institutions : Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, 
Massachusetts, and Maine. The following States have 
incorporated their agricultural colleges with other semi- 
naries or universities : Connecticut, Kentucky, New 
York, New Jersey, Vermont, Kansas, Mar^'land, Cali- 
fornia, Delaware, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode 
Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The 
States of Ohio and Indiana have accepted the donation ; 
but, as yet, have only commenced. The first six States 



390 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

have farms of from four hundred to one thousand acres 
attached to their agricultural colleges. 
. On the 23d of March, 1868, an act of the Legislature 
of California organized a State university, and accepted 
the munificent donation of one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand acres of land granted by the National Congress 
for the establishinof and maintainino- of a college of 
agriculture and the mechanic arts, &c. 

The university was opened on the 23d of September, 
1868, and about fifty students had entered up to the 
beginning of 1870. 

This institution has its location at Berkeley, about 
four miles north of Oakland, in Alameda county, and 
directly facing the Golden Gate. The buildings are 
constructed upon the most improved modern principle, 
and are located in a park of two hundred acres, beau- 
tifully situated and ornamented with shade and other 
trees. 

In point of equipment the University of California is 
superior to any in the Unlort, as its apparatus was 
selected from the most approved modern styles in 
England, France, Germany, and America, and many 
valuable appliances of modern invention introduced 
which will materially aid In developing and illustrating 
branches of science heretofore not supposed to be sus- 
ceptible of illustration by artificial means. 

Law, medical, and agricultural departments are con- 
nected with the university ; and these, with all the 
departments of the institution, are open to both sexes 
alike who can pass the necessary examination in scholar- 
ship and character. 

The practical workings and beneficial effects of the 
study of the science of agriculture, as comprehended In 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 39 1 

the act of Conorress establlshinof and fostering- ao^ncul- 
tural colleges, cannot be doubted, when we reflect that 
in no branch of industry is there such widespread igno- 
rance as in the noble pursuit of agriculture — no branch 
of industry wherein thrift, education, and systematized 
labor combined with the application of science so readily 
reward the laborer ; and California, whose generous 
soil and genial climate place her in the front rank of 
the most favored sections of the globe, would seem the 
most fitting place to bring to unequalled perfection the 
productions of the soil and the science and practice of 
agriculture. 

It is truly encouraging to see at last so deep an 
interest manifested in this sadly neglected and noble 
industry as exhibits Itself in the generous aid afforded 
it by the national and State governments. Many of the 
States in the Union have taken steps to instruct their 
young men in the science and practice of agriculture, 
many of them having State agricultural colleges, with 
farms attached. 

The earliest effort to establish an agricultural school 
was made in 1775, by the Abbe Rosier, who proposed 
to the French minister, Turgot, to place at his disposal 
the park of Chambord. But to the enthusiastic efforts 
of Emanuel Fellenberg, who, In 1799, established upon 
his estate of Hofwyl near Berne, in Switzerland, an agri- 
cultural school, is the world Indebted for its advanced 
state of agricultural information founded upon combined 
science and labor. 

In the year 1 799, the Prince Schwarzenberg founded 
an agricultural school at Krumau, in Bohemia, on a 
domain of three hundred thousand acres, which is still 
in successful operation. The collections at this famous 



392 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

school comprise models of agricultural implements, 
philosophical and chemical apparatus, insects, fruits, 
the cultivated plants of the country, minerals, and a 
herbarium. Beside these, there are a botanical garden, 
conservatory, and an astronomical observatory. The 
instruction is gratuitous. 

In many parts of Europe there are agricultural schools 
in which instructions are given in botany, zoology, 
mineralogy, geology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, 
mechanics, agriculture, sylviculture, and the working of 
mines ; and wherein the students are brouofht Into actual 
contact with every department of practical labor con- 
nected with farm -work. They plough, harrow, dig, 
cultivate, plant, sow, hoe, thresh, graft, prune, take care 
of teams and stock generally, lay out and superintend 
w^ork, erect farm-buildings, keep accounts, and perform 
every duty of a practical farmer. Students occupy a 
term of from three to five years, and after a rigid ex- 
amination are, if qualified, graduated. 

It is in such institutions as these, in our own country, 
that the parents of California should place their sons, 
instead of crowding them into law, medical, and theo- 
logical schools, offices and stores, or permitting them to 
join the great and ever increasing army of shiftless 
idlers growing up in the land, who seek a precarious 
subsistence by clinging to the skirts of some over- 
crowded profession, vend small wares, or live In absolute 
idleness and vice, while millions of acres of generous 
soil only await the touch of industry to bounteously 
reward its possessor. 

Scientific agriculture is but in its infancy in the United 
States. In portions of New England and the Middle 
States, where population begins to cut up the land into 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 393 

small farms, and the proximity of markets renders the 
productions of the soil of great value, considerable atten- 
tion is being paid to manuring the land and rotation of 
crops ; but throughout the West, and particularly west 
of the Rocky mountains, as a rule, the greatest igno- 
rance and recklessness in the cultivation of the soil 
exists, many farmers entirely ignoring the idea that any 
thing will grow upon" their farms except wheat, others 
grow only barley, and others again only corn or pota- 
toes. The wheat farmer buys the barley and oats upon 
which he feeds his horses and the vegetables upon his 
table ; while the barley farmer buys his flour and vege- 
tables. The stock-raiser, who counts his horned cattle 
by the thousands, buys his butter, cheese, and bacon ; 
while the hog farmer buys every thing, even bacon and 
lard, and, strange as it may seem, hundreds of men 
throughout the West drive their hogs to market, sell 
them on the foot at three and four cents per pound, 
and carry home ham at twenty to thirty cents a pound. 

Year after year the land is sown in the same seed, 
without manure or a season's rest, until finally the soil 
exhibits signs of exhaustion, and eventually refuses to 
produce at all, much to the surprise of the "farmer," 
who must seek "better land." 

Within some years past, agricultural societies formed 
in most of the States have aided much in disseminat- 
ing practical facts to farmers. But systematized and 
scientific agricultural education has been slow in its 
progress. 

The scientific schools attached to Yale, Harvard, and 
Dartmouth colleges each provide for instruction in 
some of the branches of agricultural science, and have 
proved of great advantage to those availing themselves 



394 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



of their benefits ; but the want of experimental farms 
has been much felt at these institutions. 

As early as 1837, the subject of establishing agricul- 
tural schools was agitated in the States of Pennsylvania 
and New York; but, up to 1853, no practical form had 
been given to the subject. In this year, the State of 
Pennsylvania projected her present flourishing agricul- 
tural college. The State of Michigan, in 1855, estab- 
lished an agricultural college, appropriated fifty thou- 
sand dollars, and purchased a tract of seven thousand 
acres of land for this purpose. In 1857, a further sum 
of forty thousand dollars was appropriated by the 
Legislature, and in May, 1857, the first class was ad- 
mitted. 

Throusi^hout the United States aoricultural societies 
and colleges are fast increasing, and their beneficial 
effects extending to every State and Territory in the 
Union. In 1862, the National Congress established a 
distinct department of agriculture, with a commissioner 
at its head, for the distribution of seeds, roots, &c., and 
general information free to the people. 

West of the Rocky mountains, besides the stimulus 
given to agriculture by the appropriations of Congress 
already alluded to, the States and most of the counties 
have agricultural societies. 

In 1862, the State of Oregon, by its Legislature, 
incorporated an agricultural college at Eugene City; 
and the State agricultural society of that State, which 
has a meeting annually at Salem, exerts much influence 
upon the agricultural interests of the State and the 
prosperity of the people. 

( On the 14th of June, 1870, "The Columbia District 
Agricultural Society" was organized at Dalles City, 



EDUCATION AND REFORM. 395 

Oregon. This society will embrace all of Oregon and 
Washington Territory lying east of the Cascade moun- 
tains. 

Industrial School. — A school for the reformation 
of juvenile offenders of both sexes is established at 
San Francisco. During the year 1868, the inmates of 
the State Reform school, at Marysville, were trans- 
ferred to this institution, and the State Reform school 
abandoned. Unfortunate children, without the whole- 
some control and guardianship of parents, and those 
abandoned to their own resources, or who inherit the 
low cunning, crime, and viciousness of wretched pa- 
rents, swell the ranks of idle, unwashed urchins, who, 
in the genial climate of San Francisco, congregate 
under and about the wharves and city front, subsisting 
upon stray scraps and the fruits of pilfering, and afford 
abundant material for this institution and for the State 
prison. 

Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. — The State has recently 
erected in Alameda county, about four miles north of 
the city of Oakland, at a cost of one hundred and fifty- 
eight thousand dollars, an institution for the care and 
educadon of the deaf, dumb, and blind. It is the only 
establishment of this character on the Pacific coast, is 
built upon the most improved plan, and has capacity to 
accommodate all those persons upon the Pacific coast 
who may find it necessary to enter it. From the i st of 
October, 1867, to 1870, but ninety-six persons were 
admitted to this institution — sixty deaf and dumb and 
thirty-six blind. Persons between the ages of six and 
twenty-five years are entitled to admission. 



396 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

NEWSPAPERS, BOOKS, LIBRARIES, AND LITERATURE. 

There is not a State in the Union nor a country in 
the world whose people, as a class, is so well educated, 
enlightened, and progressive as the people of California. 
The first settlers of the State were generally engaged 
in active life in their early homes; persons of energy, 
ambition, and generally better educated than the mass 
of their countrymen. Misfortune in business, and a 
restless and uncontrollable desire to gain riches, to- 
gether with the spirit of adventure, drew to the Pacific 
coast the mass of its population. Many of the early 
comers were compelled to make long and expensive 
voyages by sea, and tedious journeys by land, often 
through foreign countries and amidst scenes and cir- 
cumstances which, of themselves, formed a most inter- 
esting and salutary chapter in the history of their lives. 
On their arrival in California, new and strange fields of 
industry were opened up to them. Men of culture and 
letters were found in the employments allotted to me- 
nials in the older-settled parts of the world, and these 
men, located throughout the country in farming, stock- 
raising, lumbering, mining, and other industries, and 
engaged in the various trades and business of the 
cities, form the mass of liberal-minded, intelligent men 
who have broken down the barriers of superstition and 
staid conventionalities of sectarianism, and established 
a social and mental activity commensurate with the age, 
and in happy contrast with the narrow prejudices and 
sectional strifes of many of the older-settled sections 
of the country. 

Civilization, in its westward march, is no longer 
guided by the rude trapper and axeman, but pushed 



EDUCATION AND BOOKS. 397 

ahead by the refining and enlightening influences of 
the school-house and printing-press, whose presence 
and power are felt in every home throughout the wide 
expanse of the Pacific slope. 

As early as the year i860, when California was but 
ten years old, as a State, and her whole population but 
379,994, her newspaper circulation, in proportion to her 
population, was the largest in the world, far surpassing 
any part of New England and Europe. At that period 
the annual circulation of newspapers in the United 
States was thirty to each person. The average in the 
fifteen slave States was but fourteen. In California the 
issue was sixty-nine to each person — more than double 
that of the average of the whole country, and five times 
as ereat as that of the slave States. Besides the issue 
of papers from the press of the State, as here indicated, 
a greater amount of reading matter from the Atlantic 
States and Europe — newspapers and magazines — is re- 
ceived in California, in proportion to the population, 
than is received in any other State in the Union from 
abroad. So, too, with letters: the letter mails of Cali- 
fornia are larger, in proportion to the population, than 
the mails of any other State in the Union or any other 
part of the world. 

There are published in the State of California one 
hundred and seventy newspapers and magazines of all 
classes, sixty-seven of this number being published in 
the city of San Francisco. The foreign residents in 
San Francisco publish and maintain newspapers in 
German, French, Spanish, and Italian; also, one one- 
half in Russian, and a monthly issue in the Chinese 
language for circulation in Asia. 

The newspaper press of the State, in many instances. 



398 THE C OLDEN STATE. 

is conducted with much spirit and ability, and is most 
liberally patronized by the business community as an 
advertising medium. In California everybody reads 
newspapers. On the street-corners, hand-cartmen, 
hackmen, and draymen seem to devour the contents of 
the daily papers; while the stage-driver and expressman 
throughout the valleys, gulches, and ravines, as he 
speeds his way, is ceaseless in flinging right and left 
wads of newspapers at the door of every farm-house, 
store, inn, cottage, cabin, and footpath which leads to 
the dwelling of some hermit, secluded in the jungle, 
ravine, or gulch, where he lives chasing the deer or 
huntinof for s^old. 

In the field of authorship and bookmaking, California 
has not been behind her sister States. More than one 
hundred different books have been written in the State; 
some of them ponderous octavos, and embracing his- 
tory, poetry, fiction, religion, education, agriculture, 
mining, politics, and a variety of miscellaneous subjects. 
This number does not include the statutes and State 
Supreme Court Reports. 

Throughout the State, and in all the cities and towns, 
there are a number of literary societies and libraries; 
but there is not a free library of any description in the 
State. 

There are sixty-three libraries in California, with over 
two thousand volumes each, of an aggregate of one 
hundred and seventy-five thousand. 

The State library at the capital, Sacramento, contains 
about thirty thousand .volumes, chiefly law. It is not a 
circulating institution. 

The library of the Mercantile Library Association of 
San Francisco contains about twenty- eight thousand 



EDUCATION AND BOOKS. 399 

volumes, which circulate among its members. Com- 
modious reading-rooms, well supplied with papers from 
all parts of the world, are attached for the convenience 
of its patrons. 

With books pertaining to the early history of Cali- 
fornia, the Pacific coast generally, and the islands of 
the Pacific ocean, the Odd Fellows' library of San 
Francisco is perhaps the best supplied of any in the 
United States. It contains about twenty thousand 
volumes. 

In the library of the Mechanics' Library Association 
of San Francisco there are about sixteen thousand 
volumes of well-selected books; and the public school 
department of San Francisco owns a library of eight 
thousand five hundred and ten volumes. 

There are about five thousand five hundred volumes 
in the Young Men's Christian Association library at 
San Francisco; and the library of the San Francisco 
Ve7'ei7i contains four thousand two hundred volumes. 

The Society of California Pioneers have elegant 
reading-rooms, and a small library of some two thou- 
sand five hundred volumes. 

Home for the Care of the Inebriate. — Besides the 
thousands of drunkards' homes, in saloons, out-houses, 
wharves, streets, and dwellings, where wives, sisters, 
and mothers are made the unwilling guardians of the 
drunkard, an institution called the Home of the Inebri- 
ate has been established in San Francisco, supported in 
part by contributions and aid from the State. In the 
two years ending January i, 1870, there had been ad- 
mitted five hundred and thirty-seven persons to this 
institution — four hundred and seventy-three males and 



400 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

sixty-four females. As in the State prison and insane 
asylum, foreigners preponderated. Of the total num- 
ber (five hundred and thirty-seven) but two hundred 
and thirty were Americans ; while three hundred and 
seven were of foreign birth — Ireland, as in the State 
prison and insane asylum, taking the lead : Ireland, one 
hundred and ninety-five; Germany, thirty-three; and 
Scotland, thirteen. 

BENEVOLENT AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 

Benevolence and charity are leading traits of char- 
acter of the whole people of California. Long voyages 
by sea and tedious journeys by land, restless nights, 
hard fare, privations, and poverty at some time in the 
lives of most have worked the sordidness out of their 
souls, and touched the generous fountains which never 
fail to yield their pure and copious flow of charity: not 
miserly, begrudging charity, but hearty, generous, lib- 
eral aid, that makes the heart of the giver glad and the 
spirits of the receiver light. 

In this land, where, from the earliest settlement of 
the country, the mutual exchange of a pot of beans, a 
piece of bacon or venison, and a night's lodging has 
been regarded a sacred duty, and where the sudden 
revulsions of life have taught men how fickle are riches, 
charity, either in its organized forms or individual char- 
acter, meets with most generous recognition from all 
classes in California. 

Throughout the State, in every town and village, 
there are organized societies for the dispensation of aid 
to the poor and afflicted. In San Francisco alone there 
are one hundred and fifty benevolent and eighty pro- 
tective societies. 



ORGANIZED CHARITY, 4OI 

In California the objects of charity are not of the 
classes found in older settled countries — old people 
and children; for, although some of these classes are 
now to be found in destitution, men and women in the 
prime of life, destitute of every thing but poverty, are 
often compelled to seek temporary relief; so that, from 
the year 1849 to the present day, men and women, out 
of employment and out of money and a home, may be 
seen In the streets, stores, and offices of every town in 
the State begging for alms. In many instances, when 
people are found to respond generously, their kindness 
is taken advantage of by those who make 2. profession 
of begging. A couple of well-authenticated cases which 
recently occurred in San Francisco will illustrate the 
extent to which professional begging is carried on in 
California. A man with a sorrowful face called upon 
the head officer of a benevolent society, stating that his 
child was dead and that he had no means of defiaying 
the expenses of the funeral. A charitable lady was 
despatched with him to the scene of mourning, when 
the fellow, after leading the lady several blocks, ran at 
full speed in an opposite direction and was soon out of 
sight. In another instance, a young girl in tears ap- 
plied at a benevolent institution, stating that her father 
was dead and her mother and little brothers and sisters 
in destitution, and without the means of burying the 
husband and father. An amiable lady was sent with 
the girl to learn the true state of the case. On arriving 
at the wretched abode of the family, sure enough the 
father was dead and lying in a rude coffin, surrounded 
by his weeping wife and children. The case was one 
of great distress, and the good lady from the benevo- 
lent society emptied her purse into the lap of the tear^- 
26 



402 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



ful wife and mother, and took her departure to procure 
further aid for the family and provide for the burial of 
the unfortunate man. After her departure from the 
house, and before she had gone many steps, she found 
that she had forgotten her handkerchief, which she had 
held to her weeping eyes in the house of the distressed 
family ; so she quickly retraced her steps and quietly 
entered, only to see the "cold corpse" sitting up in his 
narrow coffin counting his coin. 

To those not familiar with the uncertainties, priva- 
tions, and trials incident to a new country, it is difficult 
to understand why there should be poor people in a 
land like California ; but the causes of temporary or 
even painfully protracted poverty are well understood 
by all Californians. San Francisco, containing one- 
fourth of the whole population of the State, and the 
main depot for all new-comers, although the seat of 
much wealth, luxury, refinement, and pleasure, is also 
the seat of great distress, vice, and poverty, which keeps 
the city hospital, almshouse, and numerous charitable 
institutions taxed to their utmost capacity. It is esti- 
mated that more than twenty thousand persons annu- 
ally receive public charity in the city ; one institution 
alone — the San Frmicisco Benevolent Society — having 
during the year ending December 31, 1870, aided 7,969 
persons, at a cost of ^22,488. Owing to the mild 
climate, the pains of pinching frost are not added to 
penury ; but poverty in any of its forms is bad enough. 
In San Francisco there are at least five thousand men 
and boys who roam about the city, picking up a living 
from the contents of milk-cans and bread stolen from 
the doors of dwellings, the dregs of beerkegs, and such 
pickings as they can obtain about the lunch-tables of 



RELIGION. . 403 

saloons. Of this number, but few ever see fire or light, 
eat at a table, or sleep upon a bed ; but find shelter about 
the wharves, in hogsheads, coal-yards, sheds, stables, 
lumber-yards, and even upon the sidewalks. 

RELIGION. 

Weighed in the scale of orthodoxy, the people of 
California as a class cannot be considered relig-ious, 
although there are many large and influential religious 
organizations and devout Christians, and zealous relig- 
ionists who follow the Mosaic star or the philosophy 
of Buddha and Confucius. As in most parts of the 
West, materialism with widespread indifferentism seems 
to offer easy avenues and a welcome retreat from the 
trammels and a7iathemas of self-ordained rulers, and the 
hidebound dogmas and proscriptions of feeble-minded 
fanatics and bigots, who breathe only in the fetid and 
sulphurous atmosphere of ritualism and the torments 
of eternal fire. 

Swinging a pick, rolling a wheelbarrow, and washing 
dishes in the mines, with scanty meals of salt bacon and 
beans, washing a dirty shirt with blistered hands, and 
travelling long, dusty, and lonely roads with an empty 
stomach, have been found most efficacious in working 
the superstition and other nonsense out of a large por- 
lion of the able-bodied men of California. 

The early teachings of the Jesuit and Franciscan 
fathers have had but litde effect upon the heathen ; and 
at this period nearly every vestige of their former labors 
and of the native Indians of California, has disappeared. 

In California, as in most Spanish and Catholic coun- 
tries, all forms of religious worship except Catholicism 
were prohibited by law ; and, previous to the year 1848, 



404 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

no form of Christian religion save that taught by the 
Catholic missionaries had ever been preached in the 
land. In the summer of 1848, the Rev. T. Dwight 
Hunt, a Presbyterian missionary to the Sandwich islands, 
arrived at San Francisco, then a scattering village of 
two hundred rude adobe houses. He was elected 
"chaplain of the town;" and commenced preaching to 
a few persons in a small house occupied during the 
week by a school, taught by Thomas Douglas. Mr 
Hunt, who was the first Protestant minister in Califor- 
nia, continued preaching in San Francisco ; and was, on 
the 29th of July, (Sunday,) 1849, elected pastor of the 
" First Congregational church," which office he held 
until the first Sunday in January, 1855, when he 
resigned his position and left for the Atlantic States, 
where he is still (1872) engaged in his Christian minis- 
trations. At the installation of Mr. Hunt, as pastor of 
the First Congregational church, which took place on 
the 26th of June, 1850, were Revs. J. A. Benton, S. V, 
Blakeslee, S. H. Willey, and O. C. Wheeler. 

Although Rev. Mr. Hunt had commenced his min- 
istrations in 1848, no church orgaiiization had been 
effected until the third Sunday in April, 1849, when the 
Rev. S. Woodbridge, who arrived at San Francisco on 
the 28th of February, assisted by the Rev. Albert Wil- 
liams, organized and established, at Benicia, the first 
Protestant chiwch 07^gmuzation in California, 

Rev. S. H. Willey, subsequently acting chaplain of 
the town of Monterey, with Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, 
arrived at San Francisco on board the first passenger 
vessel with gold-seekers bound for California. 

The second Protestant church organization In Cali- 
fornia, and the first in San Francisco, was the First 



RELIGION, 405 

Presbyterian church, organized by the Rev. Albert 
Williams, on the 20th of May, 1849. Mr. Williams 
had arrived at San Francisco on the 31st of March, 
1849, on board the steamer Oregon, the second pas- 
senger steamer which had arrived with gold-hunters. 
The Second Protestant church organization in San 
Francisco was the First Congregational church, pre- 
sided over by the Rev. T. Dwight Hunt, already al- 
luded to. 

The people of California have been peculiarly favored 
in having in the ministry, from the earliest period of 
American possession to the present time, a large class 
of those whose example, influence, fidelity, virtue, and 
sterling labors for the promotion of their fellow-men 
have endeared their names in the memory of thousands, 
and who did eminent service to their adopted State, 
their country, and religion. 

OmitUng atheists, pantheists. Mormons, deists, spirit- 
ualists, free-lovers, the disciples of Buddha, and other 
"believers" and "unbelievers," the organized religious 
bodies of the State are represented as follows: 

The Roman Catholic Church numbers in California 
one archbishop, one bishop, one hundred and twenty- 
four priests, twenty-nine students for the priesthood, 
one hundred and two houses of worship, beside forty- 
seven chapels and stations, thirty-six schools, including 
five colleges, in all having over eight thousand pupils. 
It has also six asylums, four hospitals, and eight con- 
vents. It holds enormous properties, draws heavily 
upon the purses of its members, and works its affairs 
with the precision of machinery. Saddlier's Catholic 
Almanac for 1870 estimates the Catholic population of 
the diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles at thirty 



406 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

thousand; and the whole number in the State can hardly 
fall short of one hundred thousand. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church has in California 
one hundred and thirteen preaching stations, one hun- 
dred and twenty preachers, (including probationers,) 
five thousand two hundred members, and one hundred 
and forty-six Sunday-schools, with nearly nine thousand 
scholars. It has also ninety-three church buildings and 
fifty-five parsonages, valued at $990,000. The Univers- 
ity of the Pacific owns a valuable property near San 
Jose. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church South has fifty so- 
cieties, fifty-one ministers, 3,385 members, twenty-three 
church buildings, and twenty-three parsonages, valued 
at $1 10,000. They have a prosperous college at Vaca- 
ville, Solano county, and an academy at Visalia. The 
Methodist bodies comprise nearly a third of the Prot- 
estants in the State. 

The Old and New School Presbyterians have effected 
a union. In California they have eighty-eight preach- 
ers and forty-two churches, with 2,600 members and 
3,500 Sunday-scholars. 

The Cumberland Presbyterians claim twelve hundred 
members, chiefly in the interior counties. 

The Congregationalists, who differ from the Presby- 
terians chiefly in the simple democracy of their church 
government, report forty-nine ministers and forty-eight 
churches, with a membership of 2,121, and 5,178 Sun- 
day-scholars. They hold church property valued at 
$271,000, including thirty-two houses of worship. 

The Baptists, who are also Congregational in govern- 
ment, have fifty-eight ministers and sixty-two churches, 
with three thousand members. 



RELIGION. 407 

The Disciples — a branch of the Baptist family — 
probably number two thousand or more. 

The Episcopalians report forty-five clergymen and 
thirty- four churches, with about two thousand commu- 
nicants and 2,600 Sunday-scholars. They have a theo- 
logical school at Benicia, with a dozen students, and are 
zealous for the establishment of schools in every parish, 
distrusting- the public schools as unreligious. 

The Unitarians have four congregations and four 
ministers, with a probable Sunday attendance of one 
thousand or twelve hundred, and a scattered constitu- 
ency of several thousand more. 

The Swedenborgians, or Church of the New Jerusa- 
lem, have two small congregations In San Francisco; 
and there are several minor sects represented in the 
State. 

There cannot be less than ten thousand Jews, who 
hold fast to the ten commandments and the worship of 
the Living One, though they have only three or four 
synagogues. 

In round numbers, the Protestants have four hundred 
churches, four hundred ministers, twenty-five thousand 
members, and twenty-five thousand children gathered 
in Sunday-schools, with a probable attendance at Sun- 
day meetings of twenty-five thousand persons who are 
not counted as members, making in all a population of 
seventy-five thousand who are directly under this form 
of religious instruction and influence in California. 

Of the Catholic population not more than seventy- 
five thousand are likely to be reached by the. efforts of 
the priests, making a total of one hundred and fifty 
thousand nominal Christians. 



408 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

PRISONS, CRIMES, ASYLUMS, CHARITIES, &c. 

Prisons and asylums are doubtless the last institu- 
tions that could be thought of by the fortune-seekers 
who look toward California and sigh to grasp her 
golden treasure. But such institutions, the accompani- 
ments of "civilization," are found even in California. 

The rapid acquisition of fortunes, founding of civil 
government, establishment of religion, education, and 
refinement, have not been the sole aim and occupation 
of those who visited California, as can be attested by 
the terrible calendar of crime and the ever-lengthening 
column whose gory sides still run with the life-blood 
of the victims of the murderous knife and pistol ; and 
the cry for more room to accommodate the ever-in- 
creasing throng who unwillingly seek an admission into 
the expanding jails, prisons, and asylums of the State. 

If California can boast of her virtuous, industrious, 
honest, and progressive men and women, so, too, she 
may mourn over her corrupt, idle, vicious, profligate, 
and criminal rabble, who, trampling under foot every 
impulse of manhood, virtue, honesty, and industry, seek 
only by crime to subsist at the sacrifice of the lives, 
property, virtue, and peace of their fellow-beings ; and 
as California can boast of her success, activity, mental 
and moral forces, quickened and propelled by the cos- 
mopolitan nature of her population, her genial climate, 
and invigorating atmosphere, so she can look with 
horror upon her intensified crime, the result of the same 
natural causes. 

Crime, at best, in any of the States of America or 
portions of Europe, where but a single race of mankind 
live, is bad enough ; but where the concentrated sin 



CRIMES AND PRISONS. 409 

and villany of every portion of the world meet in their 
concrete and angular forms it is appalling ; and in no 
other portion of the globe, outside of California, does 
crime assume so many and such loathsome forms. 
Here the highwayman and mountain-robber are repre- 
sented by the daring and boldness of every race of 
men. The horse-thief has the dash and agility of 
Europe, Asia, and America. The desperado comes 
from every part of America, Asia, Europe, and the 
islands of the seas ; and the professional burglar has 
picked locks in both hemispheres: the ponderous doors 
of mighty iron safes at his bidding fly open alike in 
Paris, London, Pekin, and San Francisco. 

The midnight-ranger, who, with murderous club, knife, 
pistol, or lariat, lurks for the unsuspecting pedestrian, 
came across the seas with the brand of the criminal and 
his hands red with the blood of his fellow-men. The 
slip-shod, sly sneak-thief, who, with bated breath, spectre- 
like, passes through apertures, doors, and windows as 
he nimbly plies his "jimmey," skeleton-keys, and chlo- 
roform on his march to the throat or pockets of his 
unconscious victim, has perhaps acquired the perfec- 
tion of his art in Hamburg, Paris, London, or the penal 
colonies of Australia. 

The shaven-headed, sandal-footed, shrunken-shanked, 
almond-eyed, addle-pated Chinaman, who, with stealth 
of fox and eye of lynx, "counts your chickens before 
they are hatched," and throttles your favorite rooster 
at the dead watch of the night, first, "like the hen 
gathereth her brood under her wing," bagged his 
chickens by the waters of the Hoang-ho or the Yang- 
tse-kianof. The well-dressed rambler who lies in wait 
for the "honest miner" — the quack doctor with specif- 



4IO 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



ics for all diseases — the diviner of things past, present, 
and to come, "speaking all languages" and interpret- 
ing the phases of the moon, the ebb and flow of tides, 
who looks equally wise in the shuffling of cards, rolling 
of globes, manipulating of crowns, or the tickling of 
palms, as he throws the mystic symbols of his art before 
his victim — may all have left their country for their 
country's good, and sought a new field for their opera- 
tions in the land of gold. The lewd courtesan ; the 
"nice young man travelling for his health ; " the genteel 
"bummer," who picks his teeth at the doors of fashion- 
able hotels, escorts stylish ladies to the opera, boasts 
of female conquests, and "subsists upon the enemy;" 
the vender of bad whiskey and other poisonous drugs ; 
the unwashed and seedy street-corner loafer and bar- 
room bummer, whose unsavory breath pollutes the air, 
and whose unappeased maw and guzzling throat wel- 
comes the stray crumbs, shrimps, and slops of the 
" saloon ; " the " standing witness," who testifies accord- 
ing to his pay ; the traducer and calumniator, who, for 
hire, drags the secrets of the family-circle and the grave 
before the public ; the scribbler, who, through a subsi- 
dized and venal press, blasts the fair fame of man, and 
bends the pregnant hinges of the knee where thrift 
may follow fawning — these, with a large number of 
vicious, idle, frivolous, none-producing vagabond men 
and women, create in a great degree the burdens 
and evils against which the industrious, honest, pro- 
ducing people of California have to contend. 

To hold in check the ever increasing tide of crime, 
and relieve the misery and want incident to idleness 
and profligacy, has sorely burdened'the people of Cali- 
fornia, who find the establishment of new criminal 



CRIMES AND PRISONS. 4I I 

courts, the building of capacious jails, hospitals, and 
asylums a matter of yearly increasing necessity. 

STATE PRISON. 

At San Qaentin, twelve miles north of San Francisco, 
in Marin county, is the State Prison, where representa- 
tives of every race can be seen, serving out the penalty 
of almost every conceivable crime and those too terri- 
ble for the ear. This institution was established in 
1851, since which period to the ist of January, 1870, 
there have been 4,528 convicts lodged within it. 

Estimating the population of the State from 1851 to 
the end of 1870 at five hundred thousand, it will be seen 
that one out of every one hundred and ten of the popu- 
lation have been in the State prison: the number of 
persons convicted more than once must be deducted 
from this enumeration ; but even this would leave the 
number of convictions large beyond comparison. It is 
estimated that more than twenty-five thousand persons 
have been indicted in the State for the commission of 
felonies ; and that the total number of arrests in Cali- 
fornia, from the year 1849 ^o the beginning of 1871, for 
every species of crime and misdemeanor, amounts to 
four hundred thousand. As the population of the State 
from 1849 to the present period would average but little 
over this number, it will be seen that the number of 
arrests made during the twenty years of the existence 
of the State about equals the whole population ; but it 
must not be understood that every person in California 
has been arrested at some period of his stay here : the 
fact that there has been a continuous stream of people 
passing through the State, and hoards of straggling 
vagabonds and adventurers from all parts of the world 



412 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



passing to and fro into the adjacent territories, and the 
fact that the same persons have been arrested many 
times, will, to a great extent, account for what might 
seem a record of unparalleled crime. 

In the city of San Francisco, for the year ending June 
30, 1870, there were 15,232 arrests made by the police; 
twelve thousand of which can be traced to the direct 
influence of intoxicating drink. During this period, the 
loss of stolen property to the amount of $130,517 was 
reported to the city police; of which $110,262 was re- 
covered. 

The completion of the overland railroad brought to 
San Francisco a great influx of professional thieves, 
burglars, and counterfeiters from Atlantic cities ; but so 
Dold were the operations of these professionals, and so 
efficient the detective police, that in nearly every instance 
the guilty parties were arrested, and many of them are 
now in the State prison. 

At the beginning of the year 1870, there were 732 
prisoners confined in the State prison. Of this number 
374 were native-born Americans, 73 of whom were born 
in California. Every State in the Union was repre- 
sented in this institution. There were also 358 persons 
of foreign birth confined here. Almost every known 
language was spoken, and almost, every profession and 
trade represented except clergymen and lawyers. Of 
the total number of convicts, 515 could read, and 217 
could neither read nor write. Of the Americans, 288 
could read, and of the foreigners 227. The total of all 
classes that could read and write was 444. Many of 
the prisoners were serving a third, fourth, and fifth 
term, and one his sixth term, in a State prison. 

During the year 1869, a school was established in the 



INSANE ASYLUM. 413 

prison, and many of the convicts availed themselves of 
the opportunity and devoted all their leisure time to 
study. 

The annual expense of conducting this establishment 
is ^114,600. Beside this, there was, at the beginning 
of 1870, a debt of $87,000 Incurred In enlarging the 
buildings; and the sum of $30,000 paid in this year, to 
settle an adverse title to the prison grounds. 

INSANE ASYLUM. 

Insanity prevails to an alarming extent throughout 
the whole Pacific coast, superinduced to some extent by 
climatic effects, combined with intemperance, the excit 
ing scenes of speculation, and sudden revulsions in 
fortune, or protracted impecunloslty. No particular 
class Indicates excess over its fellows in these maladies 
and afflictions. The stalwart Polander and the meek 
Mongolian, the millionaire and the beggar, alike swell 
the ranks of the insane and the suicide. 

As in the case of the State prisoners, every State in 
the Union and almost every nation on the globe is rep- 
resented In this institution. There were 920 patients 
in the State Insane asylum at Stockton at the beginning 
of the year 1870, and Increasing numbers still pressed 
forward from every section of the State, seeking admis- 
sion into an institution already crowded beyond Its 
utmost capacity. Of this number, (920,) 676 were 
males and 244 were females. Insanity Is much greater 
among the foreign than among the American native 
born. Of 482 persons admitted in 1869 — of whom 102 
were females — but 179 were Americans; while 283 
were foreleners and 20 unknown. These unfortunates 
came " from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral 



414 "^HE GOLDEN STATE. 

Strand " — one from Iceland and one from India. Ireland 
was represented by the largest number of any foreign 
nation — 99; next came Germany with 2>1 \ England, 
29; France, 18; and China, 17. 

During the nineteen years of the existence of the asy- 
lum — from 1 85 1 to 1870 — the total number admitted 
into it was 4,596; of whom 1,001 died and 2,243 were 
restored to reason. The expense of maintaining diis 
mstitution is about ^152,000 per annum. 

EXECUTIVE, JUDICIARY, LAWS, &c. 

In a preceding chapter will be found a list of all the 
Spanish and Mexican civil and military governors and 
American military governors of California from the first 
settlement of the country to and including the year 
1849. Since that period to the present there have 
been ten governors in California, as follows : Peter H. 
Burnett, who was the first American governor after the 
military rule, was elected by the people on the 13 th of 
November, 1849, his term of ofhce commencing on the 
15th of December following; he served until January 
8, 1 85 1, when he resigned, and was succeeded by John 
McDougall, who was elected lieutenant-governor with 
Burnett; McDougall served until the ist of January, 
1852 ; John Bigler, who was elected for two terms in 
succession, served from January i, 1852, to January i, 
1856; J. Neely Johnson, from 1856 to 1858; John B. 
Weller, from 1858 to i860; Milton S. Latham, who 
was elected for the term from i860 to 1862, after filling 
the office for fourteen days, resigned on January 14, 
i860, and was elected United States senator; John G. 
Downey, who was elected lieutenant-governor with 
Latham, served as governor until 1862; Leland Stan- 



EXECUTIVE, JUDICIARY, LAWS, &'c. 415 

ford, January, 1862, to December, 1863. After this the 
governor was elected for a term of four years. Fred- 
erick F. Low was inaugurated on the first Monday in 
December, 1863, and served until the first Monday in 
December, 1867; upon which day Henry H. Haight 
was inaugurated to serve until the first Monday in De- 
cember, 1871 ; at which time Newton Booth was inau- 
gurated governor for the following four years. 

The governor, with a lieutenant-governor, is elected 
for a term of four years. The governor receives a 
salary of seven thousand dollars per annum in gold, 
(the largest salary of any governor in the Union.) He 
resides at Sacramento, the capital of the State. The 
lieutenant-governor receives an annual salary of ^3,600; 
he Is compelled by law to reside at the State prison as 
resident director of that institution. 

The governor must be at least twenty-five years of 
age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the 
State two years previous to his election. 

In the Legislative department there are two branches 
— the senate and assembly ; the first consists of forty 
members, elected by the people for a term of four years. 
The lower branch, or assembly, consists of eighty mem- 
bers, dected by the people for a term of two years. 
California is represented at the national capital by two 
senators,- elected by the Legislature for a term of six 
years; and by three congressmen, elected by the people 
for a term of two years. All male citizens twenty-one 
years of age are entitled to vote at all elections. 

The laws of California, in protecting individuals in 
their personal property and private rights, are most 
liberal, A homestead, of the value of five thousand 
dollars, is exempt from all debts, and may be held by 



41 6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the head of a family, a husband, widow, widower, or 
any person, married or single, acting as the head of a 
family; and any unmarried person, not acting as the 
head of a family, may hold a homestead of the value 
of one thousand dollars. 

The separate property of husband and wife, before 
marriage, remains the separate property of each after 
marriage ; so the property of each, acquired by inheri- 
tance or gift after marriage, remains the separate prop- 
erty of the individual acquiring it. 

California has, by statute, wisely protected her people 
from the machinations and spoliations of the heartless 
creditor by exempting the tools of the mechanic, the 
horse and cart of the laborer, the dray or wagon of the 
expressman, the horses, farming implements, feed, and 
seed of the farmer, the library of the professional man, 
and the household furniture, provisions, and clothing of 
every householder in the State, from execution. There 
is neither arrest nor imprisonment for debt, except in the 
cases of fraud or an abscondino- debtor. 

All the children of the family inherit alike. The 
father or husband controls all the joint property, and 
can dispose of it without the consent of the wife, except 
the homestead, which he cannot encumber or sell with- 
out the wife's consent. The husband also has the 
management of the wife's separate property, but the 
wife, on application to a competent court, can have 
another person appointed her agent. 

Lands cannot be tied up indefinitely, as by statute a 
will to real estate is limited to two lives in being ; and 
a lease cannot be made of real estate for a longer 
period than ten years, except for a town lot, which may 
extend a period of twenty years. 



EXECUTIVE, JUDICIARY, LAWS, &'e. 417 

Conveyance by deed grants the fee simple; most all 
the other titles known in other parts of the world are 
almost entirely unknown in the State. 

Statute of Limitations. — Articles charged in a store- 
account are barred in one year; on an account not in 
writing, two years; on a contract in writing, promissory 
note, &c., in four years; on a judgment, five years. 

Divorce. — A divorce may be granted for any of the 
following causes: natural impotency, existing at the 
time of marriage; want of consent of parents where 
the female is under fourteen years of age, unless a rati- 
fication of the marriage is made after the parties become 
of age ; by an act of adultery of either party; excessive 
cruelty; habitual intemperance; wilful desertion by 
either party for a period of two years; failure on the 
part of the husband to provide the necessaries of life 
for the wife (he having the ability) for the term of three 
years; obtaining the consent of either party by fraud; 
the conviction of either party of a felony. A residence 
in the State of six months next preceding the action is 
necessary, in order to give a court jurisdiction. 

judiciary. 

The Supreme Court of California consists of five 
judges, elected by the people for a term of ten years 
each, at a salary each of six thousand dollars per annum. 
It is the court of last resort in the State. Terms of 
this court are held at Sacramento on the first Mondays 
in January, April, July, and October. 

The State is divided into nineteen judicial districts, 
with a district court of original jurisdiction in each. In. 

each of these districts a judge is elected by the people, 

27 



41 8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

for a term of six years, at a salary of five thousand 
dollars. There are four judicial districts in the city of 
San Francisco : in these latter the salary is six thou- 
sand dollars each per annum. Each of the fifty counties 
in the State has a court called the county court. There 
are also other inferior courts of limited jurisdiction. 

California constitutes a separate United States jiidi- 
cial district, presided over by a United States district 
judge, at a salary of five thousand dollars per annum. 
Courts are held at San Francisco, beginning on the 
first Monday in April, second Monday in August, and 
first Monday in December. 

The States of California, Oregon, and Nevada con- 
stitute the Ninth United States circuit ; and a United 
States circuit court is held at San Francisco, com- 
mencing its terms on the first Monday in February, 
second Monday in June, and first Monday in October. 
The judge's salary is five thousand dollars per annum. 

The legal profession is well represented on the Pa- 
cific coast, and judges and attorneys of unimpeachable 
integrity and eminent attainments may be found all over 
the States and Territories of the entire country. There 
are at least from seven to ten lawyers in California 
where there should be one. In all the towns and vil- 
lages, and especially in San Francisco, where there are 
over Jive hundred of them, there is a great overstock 
of lawyers, and many of them find it most difficult to 
earn a livelihood. Some few firms and individuals do a 
fair business and some few a large business ; but when 
a comparison is made between the lawyers of the State 
and the merchants, farmers, or other classes and 
branches of industry, it may be safely said that the 
lawyers" of California as a class are the poorest men in 



TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. 4I9 

the State, and that great numbers of them eke out an 
impecunious and precarious existence, from which there 
is no hope of reHef until they abandon the profession. 
Three or four hundred of the lawyers now in San Fran- 
cisco could soon add much to their fortune, health, morals, 
and the benefit of the State, by tilling the soil, raising 
stock or chickens, making butter, running sawmills, or 
conducting some branch of regular industry. The same 
might in truth be said of doctors and other professional 
men, who, for the sake of staying in a city, undergo all 
the pangs of poverty, while the broad acres of a gen- 
erous soil only await the touch of industry to yield its 
rich harvest and bounteous rewards. 

Throughout the whole Pacific coast, every city, village, 
and town is overstocked with "professional men" — 
lawyers, doctors, dentists, " artists," &c. — and still thou- 
sands of young men in the East anxiously seek the 
West for a field of professional labor. The anvil and 
the plow still call for young and active men, promising 
them peace, health, and plenty, while the occupations 
suited to woman, and the streets, concert halls, gambling 
houses, and drinking saloons are crowded with stalwart 
"loafers" and decayed dandies, who, in our pracdcal 
age, are but a burlesque upon the sex to which they 
belonof. 



420 THE GOLDEN STATE, 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Chinese empire — Chinese in the United States — Seeking gold in 
America — In California — Employments, character, and customs 
of the Chinese — Chinese in San Francisco — Moral depravity — 
Chinese persecuted — Social and political condition of the Chinese 
— Buddha, Confucius, and Mencius — Religion of the Orient — 
Chinese classics — Opium and other stimulants — Small feet of the 
women — Christianity among the Chinese — Coolyism — Chinese 
slavery in America — Spanish barbarity. 

The great empire of China, with its four hundred 
million of people, peculiar in physical type, customs, and 
religion, has, until a recent period, remained compara- 
tively excluded from the rest of the world. 

Commercial intercourse with many of the seaports 
of the empire has long existed, but the great interior 
of the country, with its olive-faced, almond-eyed, sha- 
ven-headed, sandal-footed people, is still almost un- 
known. 

Merchants, travellers, and missionaries may be found 
about the seaports, and gradually work their way into 
the skirts of the country; but European customs and 
the name of Christ and his mission are all unknown to 
the people of this vast empire, still dreaming over the 
philosophy of Buddha and Confucius, plodding along 
without the appliances of steam and the aid of modern 
invention. China is to-day as it was centuries ago, 
and centuries hence will find this vast nation almost 
as exclusive as it has been since the creation of the 
race. 

Until a recent period no Chinaman was allowed to 
leave his country, and if by accident or design any 
found their way into foreign lands, and returned to their 



CHINESE IN AMERICA. 42 1 

homes, transportation for life or decapitation awaited 
them. 

Throughout the civiHzed world to this day the ap- 
pearance of the strange people of this oldest empire, 
with flowing robes, sandals, and cue, is a source of 
wonder and curiosity, always suggesting the Darwinian 
theory of the creation of our species. 

The date of the arrival of the first Chinaman in 
America is uncertain. A few Chinese and Japanese 
have, at remote periods, been driven from their native 
shores to the islands of the Pacific, and occasionally 
upon the western coast of America; but no effort had 
been made for thousands of years, either by these 
people or their governments, to see other lands or 
affiliate with other people. 

In the twenty years from 1820 to 1840 but eleven 
Chinese had arrived in the United States, and from 
1840 to 1850 but three hundred and thirty-five. Of 
this latter number three hundred had arrived at San 
Francisco in 1849, induced to seek their fortunes in the 
new El Dorado. 

The discovery of gold in California forms a new era 
in the history of Chinese migration. The proximity of 
the Golden State to the Orient, with direct ocean com- 
munication, soon broke the hermetic seal of the "flowery 
kingdom," and brought floods of its strange people to 
the shores of America. 

A few years before the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia, vessels trading between China, the Pacific islands, 
and San Francisco carried a few Chinese as cooks and 
servants. On the 2d day of February, 1848, the brig 
Eagle, from Canton, arrived at San Francisco w^ith the 
first Chinese in the country — one woman and two men 



42 2 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

who came over In the employ of an American gentle- 
man lono- resident In China. The men went to the 
mines, and through them and the masters of vessels 
anxious to employ their craft in profitable trade news 
reached China of the rich gold - fields of America. 
Yankee ingenuity was soon employed, and walls, trees, 
cliffs, and masts of ships at Hong-Kong and Canton pro- 
claimed in blazing colors and Oriental hieroglyphics the 
startling news of 7nountains of gold in California. 

Late in 1848 a few Chinese gold-hunters arrived at 
San Francisco, and in 1849 came an addition of three 
hundred ; so that the earliest American pioneer to the 
gold-fields found himself face to face with these people. 
At first the Chinese were regarded with great curiosity 
and treated with kindness ; but the vast numbers in 
which they soon came to the country, their exclusive 
habits and indifference to every thing American, changed 
kindness to fierce hostility, which loses none of its 
bitterness with lapse of time. 

The number of Chinese who arrived at San Francisco 
in 1850 was four hundred and fifty; in 1851, twenty- 
seven hundred; and in 1852, eighteen thousand — more 
than eleven thousand having arrived in the month of 
June of this year. 

The total number of Chinese who arrived In the 
American republic to and including 1870 is estimated 
at one hundred and fifty thousand ; of whom, according 
to the census returns, 63,154 still remain in the country, 
74,646 have returned home, and twelve thousand have 
died. (The bodies of the dead are all sent to China.) 
Of the 63,154 Chinese in the United States, 60,765 are 
on the Pacific coast, as follows: California, 49,277; 
Nevada, 3,152; Oregon, 3,330; Arizona, 20; Idaho, 



CHINESE IN AMERICA. 423 

4,274; Utah, 445; and Washington Territory, 234; 
leaving but 3,389 Chinese in the whole republic outside 
of the Pacific coast; of this number, 1,949 are in that 
portion of Montana in and about the region properly 
embraced with the area of the Pacific slope. These 
are divided among the following States and Territories, 
as follows : Arkansas, 98 ; Connecticut, 2 ; Georgia, i ; 
Illinois, I ; Iowa, 3 ; Kentucky, i ; Louisiana, 71 ; 
Maine, i ; Maryland, 2 ; Massachusetts, %'] ; .Michigan, 
I ; Mississippi, 16; Missouri, 3; New Jersey, -5; New 
York, 29; Ohio, i ; Pennsylvania, 13; South Carolina, 
i; Texas, 25; Virginia, 4; Colorado, 7; District of 
Columbia, 3; Montana, 1,949; Wyoming, 143. 

It will be observed that by the census of 1870 many 
of the States had not a sinorle Chinese in them. The 
census of this year shows but 55 Japanese. in the whole 
republic, as follows: California, -x^t^; Massachusetts, 10; 
Michigan, i; New Jersey, 10; and Pennsylvania, i. 
Since this period many Japanese have arrived in the 
country, the great majority being of the higher classes, 
and have entered our colleges and scientific schools, 
where they make rapid progress in the languages, and 
seem to feel a deep interest in adopting the costume, lan- 
guage, and customs of the new world. Many Ameri- 
cans have, within the past two years, at the Invitation 
of the Japanese government, gone to that country', and, 
under large salaries, entered into the service of the 
Mikado ; others have been engaged as teachers and in- 
structors in modern civilization. Japan is represented 
at Washington by a minister ; and with fifty -five 
Japanese in America for the past three years, they 
have imbibed and diffused more of our American ideas 
than one hiuidred and fifty tJwusand Chinese who have 



424 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



landed in our country have done In the past twenty 
years. 

As may be seen by reference to the location of the 
Chinese, it will be noticed that they have spread over 
the entire Pacific coast : indeed there is not a camp, 
station, cit}^, or village throughout the remotest part of 
California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Montana, Idaho, 
Washington Territory, and British Columbia, but these 
people are to be seen, engaged in mining, wood-chop- 
ping, making roads, farming, fishing, gardening, wash- 
ing, in factories, and in houses as cooks, chamber-maids, 
(men,) nurses, and general servants. But, in w^hatever 
capacity employed, one thing is apparent everywhere: 
that they have no attachment to the soil, customs, or 
people of America — they don't take root in the country 

Not being so rugged as the Saxon or Celt, the China- 
man adapts himself to the lighter out-door work and 
to the duties generally performed by women in all parts 
of the world outside of the Pacific coast of America ; 
and when, with his shaven-head, smooth face, wooden 
shoes, white stockings, and white jeans, costume flow- 
ing loose and airy, he is engaged in household affairs, 
while puzzling man to know his species or sex, he is 
the picture of ease, order, cleanliness, and sobriety. 
But see the Chinaman as he is to be seen in his own 
quarters — see twelve thousand of them huddled to- 
gether within a few blocks in San Francisco, stewing in 
their filth, fumes of opium and odors known only to a 
Chinaman — see them cooped by hundreds in a single 
room, packed away like mummies on shelves, in dark, 
damp holes, subsisting upon scant morsels of boiled 
rice and dried fish — see him waddling knee-deep in filth 
through narrow, dark alleys, lined with rickety shanties, 



CHINESE IN AMERICA. 425 

whose each window-pane reflects the spectral form of 
his painted, courtesan countrywomen, plying their vile 
arts by such signs, gestures, and grimaces as put even 
the sturdy "honest miner" to flight — see all this! 
Jiave your olfactories draw mild comparisons between 
a Chinese "stink-pot" of ancient times and these im- 
ported and nameless odors, and feel compassion for 
the hog put in comparison with these heathen, in their 
styes, and you may have some Idea of social life and 
habits among the celestials in Sacramento and Jackson 
streets, and other localities In San Francisco. 

Three virtues are always found prominent with China- 
men : patience, frugality, and sobriety. Nothing so 
much draws out our sympathy and interest to these 
people as their childlike. Innocent-looking faces, and 
the uncomplaining, mild disposidon with which they pur- 
sue their allotted employment. 

Chinamen in the mining districts of the Pacific coast 
are generally employed in surface-mining, and working 
mines abandoned by Americans. In many Instances 
they make rich discoveries and good pay ; but thou- 
sands work where fifty or seventy-five cents per day only 
can be made. They never engage in quartz or deep 
diggings, preferring to sit and shake a rocker through 
the long day in the broiling sun, if fifty cents per day 
can be made, to risking themselves underground for 
any inducement. As a rule, Chinamen will not go 
below the level of their heads In mining on any terms. 

In mining, farming. In factories, and In the labor gen- 
erally of California, the employment of Chinese has been 
found most desirable ; and much of the labor done by 
these people, if performed by white men at higher 
wages, could not be continued nor made profitable. 



426 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Thousands of Chinamen were employed in building- 
the Central Pacific railroad from San Francisco to 
Ogden, in Utah ; and thousands are constantly en- 
gaged in similar work in all parts of the Pacific coast, 
always giving satisfaction. Indeed it is conceded by. 
those employing them that, while in physical powers 
they are inferior to the white man, they are superior 
in diligence and sobriety. Drunkenness, fasts, feasts, 
saints-days, celebrations, election-days, clubs, compa- 
nies, orders, societies, parades, and every thing else that 
attracts other men, are entirely unknown to a China- 
man. One week in each year he must have for his 
new year ; and although he would once in a while like 
to^ present his Joss with a roast pig or offering of a 
spring chicken, he will forego this, and leave his soul 
to fate, rather than lose a day and his seventy-five cents: 

With a resignation that might well become men toil- 
ing only for eternity these quiet people plod through 
the long years, heedless of all passing events save the 
revoludons of the globe, at whose turn they count off 
their daily stipend. Internal nor external affairs of 
State or nation disturb not the Chinaman. His home 
is far away. In the distant future he sees accumulated 
coin, a great ship with white sails, and a broad sea, and 
beyond this he sees his almond-eyed bride, pig-tailed 
offspring, floating gardens, fat ducks, and a happy refuge 
in the blessed land of his ancestors. 

In San Francisco whole blocks and streets are occu- 
pied exclusively by Chinese, where they conduct every 
branch of commerce and traffic in Oriental style — Joss- 
kouses, theatres, markets, workshops, gambling houses, 
all in operation. There are many large importing 
houses and wealthy firms, high in the estimation of the 



CHINESE IN AMERICA. 427 

mercantile community: some of these have accumulated 
considerable wealth. Thousands of Chinese are em- 
ployed in the city in factories, making slippers and 
ciears ; and laree numbers are eno^aofed in washinof. 
Chinese wash-houses strike the eye at every corner 
throughout the whole city, and in every city on the 
Pacific coast. 

The census of 1870 shows 1 1,810 Chinese in San 
Francisco ; of whom 9,777 were males, and 2,040 were 
females. Of the males, Sy/ were under fifteen years 
of age ; and of the females, 271 were under fifteen years. 
There were 189 males and 131 females born in Cali- 
fornia — 320 American citizens born of Chinese parents. 

No further commentary upon the morals of these 
people will be necessary than to state that, out of the 
1,769 Chinese females over fifteen years of age in San 
Francisco, 1,452 are public courtesans ; leaving but 317 
Chinese women in the city assuming virtue. 

The Chinese in San Francisco have accumulated 
considerable property, notwithstanding nearly all their 
earnings go to China, The aggregate wealth of this 
class is two million dollars, all of which is personal 
property, except seventy-five thousand dollars in real 
estate owned by a "Chinese doctor" having a large 
practice among Americans, This is the only real estate 
owned in the city by Chinamen. 

For many years the bitterest prejudice has prevailed 
amonof all classes on the Pacific coast against the 
Chinese. The great competition in labor and the low- 
ering of the standard of wages induced by these people 
strike directly at the laboring classes, who raise their 
voices loud against the presence of those who de- 
grade their occupation by reducing its pay below the 



428 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Standard of remunerative prices; and who, not adapting 
themselves to the institutions of the country nor affih- 
ating with the people, continue to remain aliens and 
strangers. 

Political parties, ever catching at popular prejudice 
to gain temporary strength, have grasped the passions 
of caste and race, thrust them into their doctrines, and 
incorporated them into their laws, raising oppressive 
barriers and cruel distinctions between men; so that, 
by special laws, the Chinaman throughout the Pacific 
coast has been made the centre of personal hatred and 
leofal discrimination that alike depfrade manhood and 
disfigure the temple of justice. 

Popular opinion, marking with its caustic touch 
passing men and events, has placed a deep brand on 
the face of the Chinaman on the western shores of 
America, until society utterly refuses to receive as 
"man and brother" any member of that vast race form- 
ing more than one-third of all the people on the globe, 
and boasting of a literature and religion centuries older 
than civilization in the western world. 

In California no social intercourse whatever, except 
in commercial affairs, is held between Americans and 
Chinese; indeed, no thought of the possibility of do- 
mestic relations between the Chinaman and the Cau- 
casian enters the minds of either people. 

Marriage with any other of the colored or mixed 
races of men, Indian or negro, is possible; but no white 
man on the Pacific coast has yet made any such alliance 
with a Chinese. In the strangely blended types of 
man, as found in California, mixed and crossed breeds, 
between almost every race and shade, present Cau- 
casian blood; but no instance is to be found pledging 



CHINESE IN AMERICA. 429 

the mutuality of the Saxon or Celt with the people of 
the Orient in the propagation of half-breed Chinese. 

In New York, Louisiana, and perhaps other sections 
of the East, instances exist of marriages of Irish women 
to Chinese husbands; but on the Pacific coast no white 
woman has, so far, yielded to a disgrace that would at 
once place her outside the pale of the lowest society of 
her people, and endanger her life itself; for so deeply 
rooted and general is the prejudice against amalgama- 
tion with Chinese that every species of crime may be 
committed under some pretext or other, but the last 
crowning sin — to marry a Chinese — will be avoided. 
The human nondescript that might be produced by the 
amalfjamation of the Caucasian and Chinese must long- 
remain unknown, at least in California. 

Whatever may be said of the Chinese religion by 
those who know but little about it, it must be confessed 
that their three great teachers, Buddha, Confucius, and 
Mencius, in morality, sobriety, and the plain, practical 
precepts of life, stand unsurpassed In the history of the 
human race. In all the writings of the advocates of 
other religions no passages more deeply weave them- 
selves into the fabric of our better human nature than 
the sweet, tender, loving tones of Confucius when plead- 
ing obedience to the laws of nature and advocating filial 
love and obedience. 

The doctrines of the Chinese philosophers^ while 
aiming remotely at a future state of existence, and ac- 
knowledging the fatherhood of the Deity and practical 
progress in sanctity, is unencumbered with the terrors 
of fire, and the mystic vail through which the disciples 
of miracles, mysteries, and metamorphoses struggle to 
gain glimpses of eternity. 



430 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



To-day Christianity is the great predominant religion 
of the West, while Buddhism continues to be the re- 
ligion of the East, indorsed and adopted by half the 
people of the globe. Christ came to teach in the hum- 
ble capacity of a carpenter's son; Buddha, as the born 
son of a Hindoo king, stepped from a throne to the 
low estate of a beggar to teach humility. The life of 
Buddha, the founder of the religion of the East, began 
in Hindostan five hundred and fifty-seven years before 
Christ : he died at eighty years of age. The family 
name was Gautama, or Sakya-Muni; and in later 
life the prophet was called Siddartha, "he by whom 
the end is accomplished," and finally Buddha, "the 
enlightened," as Jesus is called the Christ, the giver 
of truth. At the age of sixteen, by pouring water 
on the head, he was consecrated as prince royal. 
From earliest youth he was most studious, and in 
the sciences of his times was regarded as most re- 
markable. Great care was taken to keep from him 
all painful sights, that his mind might not be afflicted 
with sorrow; but the sight of an aged man, a loath- 
some disease, and a corpse, for the first time, had 
so pained him with the thought that to such all might 
come as to cause a sudden change in his whole life. 
Turning his back upon palace, father, wife, child, and 
friends, in the garb of recluse, and in the face of a 
narrow, intolerant religion of the Brahminical church 
and cruel, caste proscriptions, he entered upon the es- 
tablishing of broader ideas and a literature in harmony 
with the new progress. To-day the doctrines of Buddha 
are the foundations of the prevailing religion of Hin- 
dostan, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Corea, Thibet, Cochin 
China, China, and Japan. If numbers be evidence of 



CHINESE RELIGION. 



431 



the virtue or strength of a religion, let us remember 
that, in 1872, the estimated population of the globe was 
1,380,000,000, of whom 380,000,000 were Caucasian, 
200,000,000 Ethiopian, 220,000,000 Malay, 1,000,000 
Indo-American, and 580,000,000 Mongolian. 

Buddhism, now known in China as the religion of 
Fo, was introduced into that country from Hindostan 
about the year sixty of the Christian era, and now, 
amalfjamated with the doctrines of China's greatest 
sage and teacher, Confucius, forms the staple of Ori- 
ental faith ; but its origin in Hindostan dates back 
five hundred years before Christ. 

Confucius, whose father was prime-minister of the 
state wherein he lived, was born five hundred and 
forty-nine years before Christ, in the ancient kingdom 
of Loo, in the northeastern portion of China, now the 
province of Shan-tung. He was at an early age left 
an orphan and educated in retirement by his mother, 
Ching — a woman of remarkable virtues and intelli- 
gence. The family name was Kung Chung-ni, but is 
popularly styled Kung- Fu-tse. The study of diplo- 
macy and political economy early engaged his atten- 
tion. He married at nineteen, and, like Buddha, on 
the birth of his first child left his wife, the more closely 
to apply himself to his studies and professions. Wan- 
dering from province to province he promulgated 
the philosophy which has made him 'immortal in the 
eyes of Oriental nations, and to-day dedicates the valley 
where repose his remains as a sacred spot, pointed to 
by the learned and devout of his race as holy ground 
to pilgrim and priest. 

In the Wu'king and S-s/m, " The Five Classics and 
Four Books," the writings of Confucius, are found the 



432 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



fundamental basis of the social, political, and religious 
practices of the Chinese nation. Here we first find re- 
corded that earliest manifestation of nature's sweetest 
voice, The Golden Rule : " What you do not want done 
to yourself do not do to others ; " which, in modified and 
altered forms, has been woven into sacred history and 
laid down by Christian teachers as the light of the law 
of eternity. Here, too, we find the first proclamation 
of the' fatherhood of God, "All between the four seas 
are brethren," says Confucius. 

The perfection of God and his creation Is beautifully 
set forth in that simple, natural belief, to which enlight- 
ened man in all lands seems to be approaching, that 
"All men are born perfect, and if not educated, the 
natural character is changed, and man becomes de- 
praved," Few persons, not blinded by the green vail 
of superstition, watching the sweet, simple innocence of 
childhood, the purity of youth, and the depravity of 
manhood, can adopt the theory of pains, pe7ialties, and 
fire for the departed spirits of babes, and that mature 
age, penance, and fiery purgations are the only paths 
to the presence of God. "Jesus may do for foreigners, 
but Confucius Is the holy man of China," says the son 
of the Orient as he listens to the tale of the fierce 
torments necessary In the purgation of the "origina" 
sin" of the Caucasian. 

In the material' world, centuries upon centuries have 
rolled away — kings, governments, and dynasties grown 
and disappeared — Persia, Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and 
Rome flourished and faded away — the eternal hills them- 
selves have lifted and lowered their heads In the lapse 
of time ; but the Chinese nation and the Chinese people 
remain unchanged. No admixture of other races leaves 



CHINA AND THE CHINESE. 433 

a single line upon the physical mould ; nor do the busy 
changes in science, government, society, or religion 
leave a single imprint upon the stereotyped conditions 
of these people, whose primeval customs, literature, and 
religion are as active and fresh as they were centuries 
before the deluge, the dispersion at Babel, and the rule 
of Kublai Khan. The China of to-day is but the 
Cathay of centuries ago. '^ 

On the Pacific coast of America, more than in any 
other part of the globe outside of China, can be seen, 
in Oriental purity, the Chinese people. In San Fran- 
cisco, where twelve thousand of them live, all their 
social habits, peculiarities, and religious dogmas are 
practised as in their own country. In every town of 
importance in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Mon- 
tana, and Idaho, distinct communities of Chinese, with 
their merchants, doctors, prophets, mechanics, actors, 
priests, and laborers, are found, with their temples, 
theatres, and gambling-houses. San Francisco alone 
has five public Joss-houses, with innumerable images of 
prophets, kings, gods, animals, birds, beasts, fishes, in- 
sects, and fearful-looking nondescript creatures having 
their origin only in the brain of some enthusiastic dis- 
ciple of Buddha. 

In the Joss-horiscs there are no regular hours for wor- 
ship. In each, one or more officiating priests live in 
some wing of the building, and are generally attending 
to lighting yoss-sticks, feeding lamps, arranging vases, 
shifting scenes, mats, carpets, and flowers, sounding 
gongs, and burning fire-crackers. A fortune-teller, at a 
side table, in the presence of the gods, directs the 
earthly affairs of his confiding audience, who dole out 

their scanty coin for his mystic art. 
28 



434 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



People pass in and out of the temples at all hours 
of the day, some lounging idly, walking about, and 
jesting pleasantly upon the appearance of the figures 
before them; others more devout bear fresh oil for the 
lamps, flowers, fruit, boiled rice, sweetmeats, roast fowl, 
and roast pig, and distribute them, in tempting display, 
before the painted images. After a few prostrations, 
cracking of yoss-sticks, burning of paper, sounding of 
gongs, beating of drums, and the deafening roar of in- 
numerable fire-crackers, the worshippers gather their 
offerings of flowers, chicken, and pig, and, through the 
smoke and odors of the yoss-house, pass quietly to their 
homes, to pick the sacred chicken-bones and eat the 
rice upon which Joss is supposed to have made his 
imaginary feast. 

Chinese never bury their dead in foreign soil, and 
the bodies of all dead Chinamen throughout the re- 
motest interior of California are gathered up by friends 
and agents, shipped to San Francisco, and from there 
to China. The spirit of a dead Chinaman, according 
to Chinese belief, can never reach the happy sphere of 
his departed ancestors while the body lies in the soil of 
the foreign barbarian. 

Mourning for the dead is proclaimed by the wearing 
of white. The friends of deceased persons follow the 
dead to the grave, scattering Joss-paper to notify the 
spirits of their new companion. Flowers, fruits, boiled 
and roast chicken, ducks, and pig are laid upon the 
grave, to appease the hungry gods, and mollify the 
spirits of deceased ancestors. 

Love-making among the Chinese is never indulged 
in by the writing of letters or personal interviews of 
the parties interested; such would be considered very 



CHINA AND THE CHINESE. 435 

shocking. Match-making is conducted by a class of 
women who go about from one family to another, and 
report to the parents of youth desirable matches of 
either sex. Sometimes eng-asfements are made between 
mere children, and by parties at remote distances. The 
lovers never see each other, and, as the bride is closely 
vailed, the "happy man" never sees the face of his wife 
until after the marriage ceremony, and when in the 
bridal chamber. But litde affection exists between 
man and wife. They are never seen in company 
together, and if company visit the home the wife is not 
permitted to sit at table. In the street husband and 
wife do not walk side by side, nor arm-in-arm, but the 
wife, at a reserved distance, trots along behind. The 
universal education of Chinamen in their country does 
not extend to females, but stringent laws, with penal- 
ties, are enacted, prohibiting the education of women. 

Under the existing laws of the Chinese empire, po- 
lygamy is not prohibited, and the husband can sell his 
wife and child at pleasure. Infanticide prevails to an 
alarming extent; but male children are never destroyed 
by their parents. Writers, sages, and teachers in the 
empire all denounce child-murder, but no law of the 
land makes it a crime. 

No holiday, day of repose, or Sabbath is observed by 
the Chinese, except the new year. At this time a great 
demonstration is made, generally lasting a week. New 
year is the time when all appear in their choicest flow- 
ing robes. New silk must be added to the cue; the 
head must be clean-shaved, and gorgeous feathers, 
silks, satins, and flowers ornament both sexes. All 
outstanding debts are adjusted, and receipts passed in 
full, paid or not paid. 



436 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The beg-infilng of the year is not at regular periods 
of time : it occurs in each year at the time that the first 
new moon appears after the sun enters Aquarius, which 
is at irregular periods between the 21st of January and 
the 19th of February. 

In their mode of eating, and what they eat, the 
Chinese appear as strange as they do in their religion 
and costume. Tea, the great staple of their country, 
is drank by all, but without milk or sugar ; a small 
quantity of dry tea is put in a small cup holding a 
mouthful, boiling water is poured on this and drank at 
once. Rice, fowls, vegetables, fruits, sweetmeats, and 
pork form the staple diet of all Chinese : but little bread 
is used, and beef, mutton, butter, cream, and milk are 
totally unknown as articles of food. The use of the 
knife and fork is unknown, all food being carried to 
the mouth with the chop-sticks : these are about the 
length and size of a pen-holder, and are held between 
the fingers, the two outer ends coming close together, 
and the velocity with which a Chinaman will carry to 
his mouth his food or a stream of soup is only within 
the comprehension of the skilled in hydraulics. 

The Chinese indulgre but little in intoxicatinof drinks: 
brandy, wine, and other beverages are used by some, 
but never to excess ; whiskey, gin, and other compounds 
so freely used by Caucasians, are never tasted, and 
drunkenness is almost unknown. In seventeen years 
intercourse with a hundred thousand Chinese, the writer 
has never seen a drunken Chinaman. If the philosophy 
of Confucius has taught these people what the Koi^an 
has taught the Mohammedan and what all the rest of our 
race have failed to learn, something has been accom- 
plished. 



CHINA AND THE CHINESE. 437 

Tobacco in pipes and cigars are freely used by nearly 
all Chinese ; but so far the chewing of this narcotic is 
left to their wiser brethren of Europe and America. 

Opium, the great enemy of the Orient, was for many 
years excluded from the Chinese dominions by rigid 
laws ; but the avarice of British merchants, in the name 
of the '' Honoi^able East India Company," and backed 
up by the English government, at the point of the 
bayonet, in 1839, imposed its sale, and opened Canton 
to its free Importation. Chinese on the Pacific coast of 
America indulge freely in the pernicious drug so fatal 
to their countrymen; and, beside the regular imports, 
unheard-of devices are resorted to in smuggling it into 
the country. 

The importation into the United States amounts to 
over two hundred and ten thousand pounds annually, 
valued at two million dollars, upon which an Import duty 
of one million dollars is paid. In Tennessee and other 
Southern States opium is grown to some extent, and 
the white poppy grows well in California; but the 
tedious process of scoring the poppy bulbs and high 
rate of wages must permanently prohibit opium pro- 
duction In America. The great supply centres of opium 
are Persia, Turkey, Arabia, China, and India. This drug 
is obtained from the capsules of the white poppy ; it is 
heavy, of a dense texture, and brownish-yellow color; 
not perfectly dry, will receive an Impression from the 
finger ; tastes bitter and acrid, and has a faint smell. 
It is used by smoking, and, while its fumes are sooth- 
ing and fascinating, its effects are most destructive and 
prostrating, ending often in physical and mental ex- 
haustion and insanity. Persons addicted to its use often 
become so infatuated with Its influence that they aban- 



438 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

don all business and society, betake themselves to some 
secluded dark hole, and, drawing with their last breath 
the fatal opium pipe, surrender life to this subtile tyrant. 

In dress, the costume of male and female Chinese 
differs but litde : loose flowing garments of some light 
stuff, wooden shoes, and white, drab, or sky-blue stock- 
ings, are alike worn by both sexes. The heads of the 
women are not shaven, and instead of the braided cue 
of the men they wear the hair fantastically glued up in 
broad fan-like wings, and gayly bedecked with flowers. 

Widows in China are not permitted to marry within 
three years of the death of the husband, and marriage 
with a widow is at all times reproachful. On her second 
marriage, a woman is not permitted to indulge in any 
display : she must dress plainly, and, instead of the 
gorgeous sedan of the nuptial festivals of virgins, she 
must be carried in a plain black chair by two men 
only. 

The custom of compressing the feet of Chinese 
women is of ancient but obscure oriofin : it is done 
solely as a mark of beauty, as their Caucasian sisters 
compress the waist. When the child is from three to 
five years of age, the feet are firmly bound with strong 
strips of cloth, the toes bent under, and the foot placed 
in an iron shoe : in this condition it remains for several 
years, the child meantime undergoing intense agony. 
When the person is full-grown, the foot is but the size 
of a child's. The process completely cripples the per- 
son, but the more helpless and tottering the greater 
the success and the greater the beauty. So far, no 
small-footed Chinese women have arrived in America, 
because all the immigrants have been from the towns 
of Hong-Kong and Canton and of the poorer classes, 



CHINA AND THE CHINESE. 439 

who cannot afford the luxury of small feet, and who 
by long intercourse with foreigners have abandoned 
the custom. The idea that but one foot is compressed 
is incorrect: both feet alike undergo this torture. 

In walking, Chinese always go in single file : they 
never walk arm-in-arm nor abreast, but string out like 
a flock of wild geese, one after another. 

A Chinaman never drinks cold water : if he drinks 
water at all, it must be hot, or at least warm. 

Throughout the whole of China, and indeed wher- 
ever Chinese are found, all the labor is done by the 
people. Horses are unknown in labor, and, unless 
kept by a few high officials and military men, are never 
seen in the empire. All the heavy burdens, stone, 
timber, and merchandise are carried on poles, to which 
hundreds of Chinamen are sometimes attached. Wag- 
ons and carriages of every description are unknown ; 
the sedan and chairs attached to poles conveying all 
travellers and pleasure-seekers. 

In the few instances in which a Chinaman uses ani- 
mal force, in plowing or other work, he makes but little 
choice in selection of species ; so that to see a horse, 
cow, mule, ass, sheep, dog, and a goat all hitched up to- 
gether would be quite in harmony with his propriety 
and adaptation of animal utility. , 

Chinamen in America make but little progress in 
Christianity. In San Francisco considerable effort has 
been made by efficient and earnest Christian ministers to 
evangelize these people. A Chinese missionary school 
and chapel have been maintained for many years ; and, 
while many Chinamen partake of the benefits of such 
institutions to acquire the English language, not a dozen 
conversions have been made in twenty years; and a real 



440 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

devout Christian Chinaman is something yet to be seen 
in the new world. 

No Chinaman in America has yet undertaken to 
study our laws or familiarize himself with our system 
of government. During the rebellion of 1 861-5, the 
seventy thousand of these people in the country re- 
mained totally oblivious to all passing events : no one 
of them ever shared a single thought or sympathy 
with either combatants, neither frowned at defeats nor 
rejoiced at victories. There is neither a Democrat 
nor a Republican Chinaman in the whole republic of 
America. 

Coolyism, or the enslaving of Chinese, is carried on 
to considerable extent throuofhout the islands of the 
Pacific ocean, the republics of South America, Brazil, 
and the West India islands. Most of the Chinese find- 
ing their way into these countries are shipped from the 
port of Macao, lying on the south coast of China near 
the mouth of the river Hong-Kiang. Spanish and 
Portuguese speculators and captains seem to have 
almost an exclusive control of this traffic, in which 
African slavery in its worst forms exhibits but mild types 
of horrors. 

Since the abolition of negro slaver)'- in the republic 
of America, strenuous efforts have been made to intro- 
duce Chinese labor into the cotton and rice-fields of the 
South, with but little effect. 

It is estimated that in South America, the Pacific 
islands, and the West Indies, there are at least eighty 
thousand of these unfortunate Asiatics, deluded from 
their country by the allurements of heartless specu- 
lators, now undergoing the horrors of slavery in lands 
where white and black alike hold them in contempt, 



CHINESE SLAVERY. 44 1 

and lay the heavy burdens of servitude and bondage 
with relentless severit}^ 

At the port of Macao and its vicinity are agents of 
the Portuguese grovernment authorized to conduct the 
deportation of the coolies. Other agents and runners 
of the Spanish and Portuguese governments drum up 
in the country all Chinese who can be induced to ship 
on a contract of eight years service at four dollars per 
month, with food, clothing, lodgings, and medicine. At 
the port of debarkation, a form implying the willingness 
of the Chinaman to indenture himself and embark is 
gone through ; and, after the vessel with her human 
cargo on board is ready to sail, a final inspection of 
willingness on the part of the "cooly" is had, but gen- 
erally in such a hurried and imperfect manner that the 
poor slave learns his fate only when between decks of 
the ship he finds himself battened down and with his 
astonished countrymen packed like sardines, or when, 
on his arrival in America, he finds himself the bound 
slave of a cruel master, or on the auction block. To 
the credit of humanity be it said that Chinese declar- 
ing their unwillingness to leave their country are, under 
the authority of the officers at Macao, released and 
put on shore ; but under the specious arguments of 
"runners" they soon find themselves at sea. 

Great numbers of coolies find their way to Cuba, 
where they are employed on the sugar plantations as 
cooks, house -servants, washers, cigar- makers, sugar- 
makers, and in all manner of drudgery. At the present 
time there are upwards of thirty-five thousand of these 
people in Cuba, and a recent decree of the captain-gen- 
eral of the island compels all not bound, within a given 
period, to select masters at four dollars each per month; 



442 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



in failure of which they will be arrested and under the 
government placed at labor for life, or until they select 
masters under prescribed rules of the captain-general 
and a board of directors. 

Numbers of French and Spanish vessels are engaged 
in carrying coolies from Macao and other Chinese ports 
to the port of Mariel, a few miles west of Havana, and 
after quarantine they are sent to their masters and 
landed at the city of Havana, their destination. All not 
contracted for are sent to a guard-house until disposed 
of, and those held under indenture are taken charge of 
or sold, their term of servitude being eight years, and 
transferred to the new master by a Spanish official. All 
those arrivingf in ill health or disabled are auctioned off 
to the highest bidders, who place them in hospital until 
restored to health, when they are set at work or sold 
again at great profit to the first buyer. 

In their new homes the poor Chinese slaves soon 
find their circumstances most wretched : they learn a 
little Spanish, but only to know their degradation — 
slaves to the whites, and hated by the blacks. Thrilling 
scenes of revenge by the coolies, by fire, poison, or 
otherwise, often follow acts of cruelty by the whites. 

It is fair to conclude that nothing short of the inter- 
position of the United States government and the sub- 
stitution of republican freedom over the land will amel- 
iorate the condition of the wretched cooly in Spanish 
America and the West Indies. 



COUNTIES IN CALIFORNIA. 443 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Counties — Coast counties — Area — Productions — Population — San 
Diego — Los Angeles — Santa Barbara — San Luis Obispo — Monte- 
rey — Santa Cruz — San Mateo — San Francisco : composition of 
the city, its population, education, buildings, trades, professions, 
newspapers, nationalities, society — Marin — Sonoma — Mendocino 
— Humboldt — Klamath — Del Norte. 

In the general description of California in preceding 
chapters, the principal features of each section of the 
State — climate, seasons, mountains, rivers, lakes, bays, 
harbors, forests, mines, and agricultural productions — 
are given. To more fully convey to the reader the 
great development, resources, climate, and condition of 
the different sections of the State, each county in Cali- 
fornia, with its climate, seasons, natural productions, 
and material prosperity, with the area, population, and 
principal cities of each, are here set forth. The pro- 
ductions and material wealth of each are given as they 
were in 1870, this being the period of the enumeration 
of population. 

In order that the various sections of the State may 
be followed in their physical connections, the counties 
are divided into three classes: the coast coimties, facino- 
upon the Pacific ocean, the valley and interior counties^ 
embracing the chief agricultural portions of the State, 
and the mountain counties in and about the Sierra Ne- 
vada range, representing the great mineral wealth of 
California. 

The most southern county, adjoining the Mexican 
Territory of Lower California, is San Diego, which 
forms the first county (beginning south) of the 



444 ^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

COAST COUNTIES. 

San Diego. — The first settlement made in California 
was made in this county in 1769. Here is situated the 
beautiful harbor of San Diego, the early haunt of the 
Jesuit fathers. The county is among the largest in 
the State; its area is 15,156 square miles, making it 
almost as large as the republic of Switzerland, with its 
15,261 square miles of territory. Several of the New 
England States might be contained in this county. The 
combined area of Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
and Massachusetts is but 16,030 square miles.. 

The county of San Diego is bounded on the west by 
the Pacific ocean, north by Los Angeles and San Ber- 
nardino counties, east by the Colorado river, which 
separates it from the Territory of Arizona, and south 
by the Mexican Territory of Lower California. The 
climate of this county is mild, and very equal, not being 
surpassed in any part of the world. Frost and snow 
are never seen, and the years succeed each other 
through successive periods of bright, balmy, dry, sunny 
summers, and gentle rainy seasons of brief duration, 
in which hill and valley are clad in verdure and fragrant 
flowers. In this county the rainfall is only one-quarter 
as much as it is at San Francisco. All the tropical 
fruits grow in San Diego — the orange, lime, lemon, and 
fig — and experiments recently made with the pine-apple 
and banana show that the climate and soil are well 
suited to them. 

The population of San Diego county is 4,951 ; of 
whom 3,743 are native born and 1,208 are foreigners. 
There are 2,300 residing in the city of "San Diego, the 
county-seat. The county is eminently an agricultural 



COAST COUNTIES. 445 

one, the soil being rich and the climate genial. Stock- 
raising is also carried on extensively. No mineral of 
importance had been discovered in this county until 
1870, when rich veins of quartz, containing free gold, 
were found in the southern portion. Since this time, 
three quartz mills have been built, and mining is carried 
on to some extent. 

The surface of the country is a succession of rolling, 
bald hills, covered with wild oats, grass, and flowers, and 
rich, fertile valleys. Forest trees are rarely met with. 

There are in the county twenty thousand acres of 
land under cultivation, one hundred thousand grape- 
vines, thirty thousand cattle, ten thousand horses, and 
forty thousand sheep; and there are sixty thousand 
bushels of wheat grown annually. 

Los Angeles. — Lying directly north of San Diego, 
on the line of the coast, is Los Angeles county, with an 
area of six thousand square miles, i,ioo of which are 
in islands off the coast; and a population of 15,309, of t 
whom 10,984 are native and 4,325 of foreign birth: 
5,600 reside in the city of Los Angeles, the county- 
seat. The county is bounded south by San Diego, 
west by the Pacific ocean, north by Santa Barbara, 
and east by the county of San Bernardino. 

The climate here, as in San Diego, is perpetual sum- 
mer: frost and snow are unknown. Gentle rains in 
winter cover the whole surface with green and wild 
oats ; native grasses and flowers spread over the vast 
rolling hills and rich valleys, which are entirely free 
from trees and present a charming scene. All the 
semi-tropical and many of the tropical fruits grow well' 



446 ^-^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

and the county is celebrated for Its vast vineyards and 
orange groves. The orange in this county is ripe in 
the months of December and January, and in quality is 
superior to those grown in Central America and the 
Saidvvich islands. 

The rainfall in Los Angeles is only about half as 
great as at San Francisco. Like all the southern sec- 
tions of the State, there are eight months without rain 
during which the sun hangs like a ball of fire in a 
cloudless sky ; but the prevailing westerly winds from 
the Pacific ocean cool the atmosphere, sq that heat is 
never oppressive. This county was settled at an early 
day by the Jesuits, who discovered gold and made 
some progress in placer-mining in this county three- 
quarters of a century before the discovery at Sutter's 
mill, in 1848. 

Some Idea of the prosperity and resources of this 
angel land may be had when we know that there are In 
the county fourteen thousand horses, twenty-five thou- 
sand cattle, five million grape-vines, producing annually 
one million five hundred thousand gallons of wine and 
one hundred thousand gallons of brandy; four hundred 
and fifty thousand sheep, producing annually one mil- 
lion three hundred thousand pounds of wool ; two thou- 
sand four hundred fig trees, three thousand seven hun- 
dred lemon trees, five thousand three hundred walnut 
trees, two hundred and fifty thousand mulberry trees, 
two thousand olive trees, and thirty-five thousand orange 
trees. The county produces seventy thousand bushels 
of wheat, one hundred and forty thousand pounds of 
honey, and three hundred thousand bushels of barley; 
and produces one-third of the whole corn- crop of the 



COAST COUNTIES. 447 

State, one-third of the tobacco, and one-fourth of the 
silk cocoons grown in Cahfornia. 

Los Angeles is the only town of importance in the 
county : San Gabriel, Soledad, Anahime, and Wilminor- 
ton are growing towns, but all small. 

Santa Barbara. — Along the coast line and west of 
Los Angeles county is the county of Santa Barbara, 
with an area of 4,572 square miles ; of which 432 square 
miles are contained in six islands lying off the coast, in 
the Pacific ocean. This county is among the largest 
ones in the State, being as large as the combined area 
of the States of Delaware and Rhode Island, lareer 
than the Papal States, and four times as great as the 
area of the Duchy of Brunswick. It is bounded on the 
west and southwest by the Pacific ocean, north by San 
Luis Obispo, east by Los Angeles, and south by the 
Santa Barbara channel. The population of the county is 
7,784; of whom 6,538 are native born and 1,246 are of 
foreign birth. Santa Barbara, a town first setded in 
1 780 by the Jesuits, and beautifully located near the 
ocean, and the present county-seat, is the only place of 
importance in the county. Carpenteria, Alamo, Inas, 
and San Buenaventura are growing towns. 

The climate of this section -is unsurpassed in the 
world ; with the exception of four months, during which 
light rains fall at intervals, the endre season is per- 
petual sunshine. Frost and snow are unknown, and 
the prevailing west winds of summer from the Pacific 
ocean temper the atmosphere, and, without being too 
hot or too cool, make it bracing and most invigoradng. 
No part of Italy or the most favored portions of the 
globe surpass this and adjoining coundes in climate. 



448 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

All the semi-tropical and many of the tropical fruits 
grow to great perfection ; and general agriculture and 
stock-raising are prosecuted with great success. The 
soil is rich and covered with luxuriant native grasses, 
wild oats, and flowers. No part of the State is better 
adapted to fruit and nut- growing than this county. 
The orange, fig, and lemon produce most abundantly. 

So far no mines of importance containing the precious 
metals have been discovered, but asphaltum, sulphur, 
and other minerals are obtained. There are in the 
county forty-five thousand acres of land under cultiva- 
tion ; four hundred and thirty thousand grape vines ; 
twenty-eight thousand olive trees, (the whole number 
of olive trees in the State being but thirty-four thou- 
sand ;) also one hundred and fifty thousand sheep, 
producing annually six hundred and fifty thousand 
pounds of wool. This county and Los Angeles pro- 
duce one-half of all the corn grown in the State, and 
Santa Barbara grows annually more than one-third of 
the bean crop of California. Wheat, barley, and corn 
grow well. There are two hundred and twenty thou- 
sand bushels of barley and two hundred and seventy 
thoucand bushels of corn produced yearly. The county 
is altogether prosperous, and possesses great natural 
resources for the building up of permanent wealth. 

San Luis Obispo. — North of Santa Barbara, and on 
the line of the Pacific ocean, is the county of San Luis 
Obispo, with an area of three thousand two hundred 
square miles, and a population of 4,772; of whom 3,833 
are native and 939 of foreign birth. It is bounded on 
the west by the Pacific ocean, north by Monterey, east 
by Kern county, and south by Santa Barbara county. 



COAST COUNTIES. 449 

The climate of this county is similar to that of the 
counties lying south of it. Rains fall to some extent 
during winter, at which season fields of grass and grain 
are all green. Frost and snow are unknown, and 
summer is a protracted season of eight months of 
beautiful sunshine and clear sky, without a drop of rain 
falling. Like the rest of the Coast Range, the atmos- 
phere is tempered by the prevailing west winds frorrt 
the ocean. The surface is a succession of rolling hills, 
high mountains, and beautiful valleys covered with 
grass, flowers, and wild oats. Forest trees are scarce. 
The soil is rich and most productive. All the semi- 
tropical and many of the tropical fruits grow to perfec- 
tion. The lemon, fig, olive, orange, almond, walnut, 
and the mulberry tree all do well. 

No mines of importance have yet been discovered in 
San Luis Obispo county, which may be regarded as 
stricdy an agricultural region. There are no towns of 
consequence in this section ; the town of San Luis 
Obispo, beautifully situated in a fertile valley nine miles 
from the ocean, and the seat of an early Spanish mis- 
sion, is the present county-seat and the only place of 
any size in the county. 

The enclosed land in the county is one hundred thou- 
sand acres, and twenty thousand acres are under culti- 
vation. There are in the county thirty-five thousand 
sheep, ten thousand horses, and twenty-five thousand 
cattle. Dairying and sheep and stock raising are car- 
ried on extensively. There are produced annually five 
hundred thousand pounds of wool, three hundred thou- 
sand pounds butter, and three hundred and fifty thou- 
sand pounds cheese. The county in climate, soil, and 

resources has many attractions. 
29 



45 O THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Monterey. — North of San Louis Obispo, bounded 
on the west by the Pacific ocean, north by Santa Cruz 
county, northeast and east by Merced, Tulare, and 
Fresno counties, and south by San Louis Obispo county, 
is the county of Monterey, with the old historic town of 
Monterey, once the Mexican territorial capital, for the 
county-seat. This ancient town was settled by the 
Jesuit missionaries in 1770, and for more than three- 
quarters of a century was the most important point 
upon the Pacific coast north of Panama. Here it was 
that Commodore Sloat, of the United States navy, on 
July 7, 1846, hoisted the American flag, and declared 
as United States territory that vast area forming Cali- 
fornia, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, and the 
greater part of Arizona. 

The area of Monterey county is 4,356 square miles: 
it Is within a fraction of the size of the State of Con- 
necticut, and is 930 square miles greater than the com- 
bined area of the States of Rhode Island and Delaware. 
The total population of the county is 9,876; 7,670 being 
native Americans and 2,206 of foreign birth. The city 
of Monterey has a population of 1,1 12. It is beautifully 
located near the southern end of the spacious Bay of 
Monterey, where the surrounding country is most 
charming. The climate of the county is perpetual 
summer; the soil is rich and productive in all the 
semi-tropical and many tropical fruits ; agriculture and 
grazing are the chief industries of the people. The 
country is better wooded than that farther south, and 
the " Monterey cedar," a most beautiful ornamental 
tree, grows abundantly. Salinas and other valleys con- 
tain large areas of most productive lands. Hollister, 
Castrovillc, and Salinas City are prosperous towns. 



COAST COUNTIES. 45 I 

There are one hundred and ten thousand acres of 
land cultivated in the county; and five hundred thou- 
sand bushels of wheat and one milHon bushels of barley 
produced annually. Corn, peas, and oats grow well, 
and one-third of the tobacco grown in the State is pro- 
duced in this county. There are thirty-six thousand 
cattle in the county, producing one hundred and fifty 
thousand pounds of butter and one million eight hun- 
dred thousand pounds of cheese annually: more than 
one-third of the cheese produced in the State is made 
in this county. There are two hundred thousand sheep, 
producing six hundred and fifty thousand pounds of 
wool annually. Bees thrive well, there being more 
than seventy thousand pounds of honey produced yearly 
in the county. The grape grows luxuriantly, there 
being one million vines in the county ; the olive, mul- 
berry, almond, fig, and lemon grow, but the orange has 
not yet been cultivated to any extent. No mines have 
been discovered in this county, which is one of the best 
agricultural regions in the State. 

Santa CRUZ.^Bounded west by the Pacific ocean, 
north by San Mateo, east by Santa Clara, and south by 
Monterey, is the county of Santa Cruz, containing 432 
square miles, and a population of 8,743; there' being 
6,758 native Americans and 1,985 of foreign birth. 
The town of Santa Cruz, situated at the southern end 
of the county, and facing the lovely Bay of Santa Cruz, 
has a population of twenty-five hundred, and is the 
county-seat. The sea-beach here is lovely, and Santa 
Cruz is fast becoming a fashionable place of resort for 
sea-bathinof. 

The physical character of this county differs mate- 



452 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

rially from that of the counties farther south. It is a 
little cooler, more rain falls, and the surface is generally 
rugged and much of it covered with forest trees of 
great magnitude and value, some of which grow to fifty 
feet in circumference; redwood, cedar, oak, ash, laurel, 
and fir are abundant. There are, however, many rich 
valleys, and the pasture range is excellent, as the fogs 
from the ocean keep vegetation green the greater part 
of the year. The climate is perpetual summer, and 
semi-tropical and tropical fruits thrive. Dairying, lum- 
bering, and agriculture are the chief pursuits of the 
people. There are eighteen thousand acres of land 
cultivated, producing one hundred and ten thousand 
bushels of wheat and one hundred thousand bushels of 
barley. One-third of the buckwheat raised in the State 
is grown in this county. The grape, orange, olive, mul- 
berry, almond, walnut, lemon, fig, and fruits generally, 
do well. There are seven thousand cattle in the county, 
and one hundred thousand pounds of butter produced 
annually. 

Lumbering Is carried on quite extensively, there being 
twenty-seven saw-mills in the county. • There are nu- 
merous tanneries, lime-kilns, and a paper and powder 
mill at the town of Santa Cruz. 

San Mateo. — On the coast line, directly north of 
Santa Cruz county, bounded on the west by the Pacific 
ocean, north by the county of San Francisco, east by 
the Bay of San Francisco, and south by Santa Clara 
county, is the county of San Mateo. As will be seen, 
this county is situated upon the peninsula lying be- 
tween the ocean and the Bay of San Francisco. The 
climate is much cooler, both in summer and winter, than 



COAST COUNTIES. 453 

in the counties farther south, but frost is almost un- 
known, and snow never falls; and most of the semi- 
tropical fruits grow well. On the coast the damps and 
fogs keep the grass green all summer, and the effects 
of drought are but little known, vThe surface of the 
country is rugged, and its southern half covered with 
forests of redwood, fir, cedar, oak, and other valuable 
timber; but the northern end of the county is roll- 
ing hills and small valle3^s, covered with grass and wild 
oats, but entirely destitute of trees. Large areas of 
the county are fit for agriculture and grazing. Dairy- 
ing and lumbering are carried on to a considerable ex- 
tent. Gold, in small quantities, has been discovered, 
but no mines of importance have yet been developed. 
During the early part of 1871, quartz veins, containing 
gold, silver, and lead, but abounding in the latter, had 
been opened quite close to the Bay of San Francisco, 
and within five miles of the city of San Francisco. 
The area of the county is four hundred and thirty-two 
square miles. There are eighty-five thousand acres of 
land cultivated, and four hundred and fifty thousand 
bushels of wheat, five hundred thousand bushels of 
barley, three hundred thousand bushels of oats, twenty- 
two thousand bushels of beans, six hundred thousand 
bushels of potatoes, thirteen thousand pounds of hops, 
twenty-four thousand tons of hay, thirteen thousand 
bushels of onions, two hundred and twenty-five thou- 
sand pounds of butter, and two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand pounds of cheese produced annually. Great va- 
riety and quantity of fruit and vegetables are produced 
for the San Francisco market. The grape, lemon, fig, 
walnut, almond, mulberry, olive, and orange are grown, 
but do not thrive so well as in the counties farther 



454 ^-^^ GOLDEN STATE. ' 

south. There are fifteen thousand five hundred cattle 
in the county, twenty-five miles of railroad, and seven- 
teen saw-mills, the latter producing large quantities of 
lumber. This county furnishes San Francisco with its 
chief supply of milk and water. Redwood City, a 
small town upon the line of railroad from San Fran- 
cisco to San Jose, is the county-seat. The railroad 
from San Francisco to San Jose and other points south 
passes through the whole length of the county. There 
are no towns of importance in San Mateo: Belmont, 
Menlo Park, and San Mateo, all upon the railroad lines, 
are thriving towns. The population of the county is 
6,635, of whom 3,493 are native and 3,138 are of foreign 
birth. 

San Francisco. — The county of San Francisco, In 
which is situated the city of San Francisco, the great 
mercantile emporium of the Pacific coast, and the third 
commercial city in the United States, contains an area 
of forty-two square miles, and embraces the narrow pen- 
insula between the Pacific ocean and the Bay of San 
Francisco. It lies south of the Golden Gate, and the 
northern point of the county, upon which is situated 
the city of San Francisco, is a succession of rugged 
hills, sand ridges, deep gulches, and green valleys. On 
the southern side, adjoining San Mateo county, the sur- 
face is covered with grass and the soil is rich, but there 
are large ranges of mountains; while on the western 
side, facing the Pacific ocean, shifting mountains and 
hills of white sand, carried from the shore of the Pacific 
ocean inland for miles by the strong prevailing west 
winds of summer, give a wild and desolate appearance 
to a wide section entirely barren and destitute of trees. 



'^-^^ 




OLD CITY IIUTEL, 1640, CURNER OF KEARNEY A.ND CEAY bTREETS. 
(First Hotel in San Francisco.) 




.RAND II. )!£!., ^AN I RANCISCO, 1S73. 



SAN FRANCISCO, 455 

The sand beach for miles at this point is hard, level, 
and clean, affording an elegant and romantic drive, with 
rolling- rido-es of sand on the east and the broad Pacific 
on the west. At this point, and seven miles from the 
city, is the "Cliff House," where the great sea-lions 
perch upon their sea-beaten rocks, and are objects of 
admiration and wonder to the new-comer. A fine 
macadamized road from the city to this point forms the 
chief drive for the pleasure-seekers of the great me- 
tropolis. 

The Bay and the present site of San Francisco was 
first discovered on the 9th of October, 1769, by Gov- 
ernor Portala, the Mexican pioneer, and his associates, 
who made a journey by land from Monterey northward, 
planting the cross among the Indians. Seven years 
later the mission of San Francisco was founded, and in 
1836 the first house was built where now stands the 
magnificent city of San Francisco. The growth and 
commercial importance of the city has kept on steadily 
and with astonishing rapidity increasing until, in ele- 
gance, it is not surpassed in America. High hills have 
been levelled down and flung into muddy holes and 
deep ravines; parks laid out and ornamented, wide and 
pleasant streets well paved, water and gas conducted 
everywhere, horse railroads running in every direction, 
pleasure-gardens, play-grounds, public halls, theatres, 
churches, schools, libraries, banks, hospitals, colleges, 
foundries, factories, and all the appliances of modern 
civilization maintained upon the broadest principles. 

The city of San Francisco is substantially built Avith 
brick and wood. Few houses exceed four stories in 
height: the dread of earthquakes check building to a 
greater elevation. In the business centres the buildings 



456 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

are all made of brick or stone, and many elegant struc- 
tures with iron fronts painted white adorn the city. 
There is not a city in the United States where so much 
glass is used in buildings ; almost the entire fronts of 
all the fine stores, hotels, and offices are elegant plate 
glass running from the ceilings to the street, at once 
giving an attractive appearance to the city and light and 
comfort within. 

Some idea of the Pacific metropolis may be had from 
a brief inspection of the leading features of the compo- 
nent parts of the city and its population as demonstrated 
by the federal census of 1870. At that period the 
real and personal property in the city was valued at 
$265,000,000. There were at the same time 25,300 
houses in the city, and 36 banks having $25,000,000 on 
deposit; 50 miles of street railroad; 800 manufacturing 
establishments, employing $18,000,000 and producing 
$45,000,000 in value annually; 36 halls, 45 wharves, 
8 theatres, 87 apothecaries, 600 lawyers, 70 book stores, 
325 shoemakers, '^'^^ brewers, 420 brokers, 370 butchers, 
27 cigar importers, 64 cigar factories conducted by 
whites and 34 Chinese cigar factories, employing 4,500 
Chinese and 300 white men, and producing annually 
70,000,000 cigars valued at $3,000,000; 450 retail cigar 
stores, 42 coffee-houses, 71 confectioners, 60 dentists, 
200 dressmakers, 2P foundries, 220 fruit dealers, 700 
groceries, 13 hospitals, 200 hotels, 200 incorporated • 
companies, 76 insurance companies, 147 jewellers, 68 
laundries; 2,100 saloons, which, with the 700 retail gro- 
ceries, make 2,800 places for the sale of liquors ; 450 
lodging houses, 750 merchants, 100 Chinese merchants, 
88 newspapers, 30 photographic galleries, 450 physi- 
cians, 145 restaurants, 2il steamboat lines, 100 music 



SAN FRANCISCO. 457 

teachers, jT) churches, 5 Jewish synagogues, 14 Joss- 
houses, 241 benevolent societies, 62 protective unions, 
12 hterary and historical societies, 40 military compa- 
nies, and 41 social clubs. 

Not the least remarkable in the development of this 
youngest but most active and progressive American 
city is the composition of its citizens. Scarcely a spot 
on earth, from the metropolis of London to Iceland and 
Fiji, but is represented in San Francisco. Here the 
strangest physical and mental types of the race are 
found, each leaving its imprint upon the institutions and 
rising generation of the country. 

To the European or the people of the Atlantic States, 
where the growth of great cities is the result of centu- 
ries, the sudden springing into existence of the great 
commercial city of San Francisco seems like fiction. 
Thirty-seven years ago not a sign of human life marked 
the spot where now stands this proud metropolis. In 
1836, the first humble house was built; and during the 
succeeding eleven years but four hundred and fifty-nine 
persons had congregated about the shores of the Bay 
of San Francisco. But potent agents soon awoke the 
slumbering nations to cross deep seas and arid plains 
to build up the giant city of the Far West. The starry 
ensign of the new nation of freedom was hoisted in 
1846, and the charmer, gold, was discovered in 1848. 

From a population of 459 in 1847, San Francisco had 
swelled to 34,776 in 1850. In i860, the city had 56,802 
population; and, in 1870, it had reached 149,473 — an 
increase of almost 1 66 per cent, in ten years ; and the 
increase is still marked by indications of steady and 
rapid growth. 

The population of the city is about one-quarter'of 



458 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the population of the whole State, and has grown en- 
tirely out of proportion to the population of the country 
chiefly from the fact that it has been the great distribut- 
ing point of all the merchandise from Mexico to Alaska, 
on the coast. Now that the continental railroad has 
opened interior avenues of supply, and the overland 
railroad building from Lake Superior to Washington 
Territory will form a short connecting link between 
the Atlantic seaboard and the finest harbor in America, 
inviting the commerce of Asia to the new port of the 
West, Puget sound, some division of San Francisco's 
protracted monopoly of commerce may reasonably be 
expected. 

The composition of the population of San Francisco 
presents many features of striking interest: perhaps 
no other city of importance in the United States or in 
any other part of the world contains more foreign than 
native voters. The registered voters of the city in 
1870 aggregated 36,410, of whom 16,205 were native 
and 20,205 were adopted citizens : showing 4,000 more 
naturalized than native citizen voters in the city. Of 
the voters at this time 352 were colored, all native. 

The total population was composed of 75,824 adult 
males, 61,577 adult females, 23,722 males under fifteen 
years of age, and 23,261 females under fifteen years. 
Of the population, 18,346 males and 18,219 females 
were born in California; and the Chinese population 
was 11,810, of whom 9,777 were males and 2,040 were 
females. Of the males, 877 were under fifteen years 
of age, and 271 females were under fifteen; of the 
Chinese residents, 189 males and 131 females were 
native-born Californians. The colored population was 
1,094, of whom 626 were males and 468 were females; 



,3 "« 






^< -> 











SAN FRANCISCO DESTROYF.D 1!V FIRE, DF.CF.MBER 24, 1849 ; ^'-^"^ 4, 1S5O; 
MAY 4, 185 1 ; JUNE 22, 1S51. 



'•^.'aBW-ta?*''"* 




SAN FRANCISCO FROM THF, BAY IN 1 847. 



SAAT FRANCISCO. 459 

of the colored population, 95 males and 84 females were 
born in California. 

San Francisco is the tenth city in population in the 
United States, being surpassed only by New York, 
Philadelphia, Brooklyn, St. Louis, Chicago, Baltimore, 
Boston, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. To give an idea 
of the cosmopolitan character of the 149,473 forming 
the population of San Francisco, of whom 75,754 were 
native Americans and 73,719 were of foreign birth, a 
complete analysis of the component parts in 1870 is 
here given. The native-born represented the republic 
as follows: Alabama, 347; Arkansas, 35; California, 
38,491 ; Connecticut, 850; Delaware, 149; Florida, 30; 
Georgia, 97; Illinois, 756; Indiana, 261; Iowa, 175; 
Kansas, 13; Kentucky, 447; Louisiana, 851; Maine, 
2,650; Maryland, 876; Massachusetts, 7,147; Michi- 
gan, 305; Minnesota, "j},', Mississippi, 119; Missouri, 
664; Nebraska, 11; Nevada, 218; New Hampshire, 
750; New Jersey, 871; New York, 12,612; North 
Carolina, 127; Ohio, 1,116; Oregon, 219; Pennsylva- 
nia, 2,635; Rhode Island, 489; South Carolina, 195; 
Tennessee, 220; Texas, 78; Vermont, 661; Virginia 
and West Virginia, 6^2) ! Wisconsin, 346 ; Alaska, 23 ; 
Arizona, 4; Colorado, i; District of Columbia, 231; 
Idaho, 1 1 ; Indian Territory, i ; Montana, i ; New 
Mexico, 4; Utah, 21; Washington, 72; Wyoming, 2. 
The foreign population represented the different nations 
as follows: Africa, 25; Asia, 20; Atlantic islands, 164; 
Australasia, 914; Australia, (proper,) 476; Belgium, 139; 
Bohemia, 43; Canada, 1,154; New Brunswick, 401; 
Newfoundland, 39; Nova Scotia, 437; Prince Edward 
island, 44 ; British America, (not specified,) 290 ; Cen- 
tral America, 44 ; Cuba, 28 ; Denmark, 593 ; France, 



460 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

3,547; Baden, 789; Bavaria, 1,101; Brunswick, 21; 
Hamburg-, 610; Hanover, 1,182; Hesse, 684; Lubeck, 
5; Mecklenburg, 42; Nassau, 24; Oldenburg, 56; 
Prussia, 7,578; Saxony, 318; Wurtemberg, 598; Ger- 
many, (not specified,) 594 — (total, Germany, 13,602;) 
Gibraltar, i; England, 5,172; Ireland, 25,864; Scot- 
land, 1,687; Wales, 247 — (total of Great Britain and 
Ireland, 32,998 ;) Greece, 27; Holland, 190; Hungary, 
61; India, 17; Italy, 1,622; Malta, 2; Mexico, 1,220; 
Norway, 390; Pacific islands, 57; Poland, 517; Portu- 
gal, 199; Russia, 281; Sandwich islands, 51; South 
America, 418; Spain, 119; Sweden, 780; Switzerland, 
775 ; Turkey, 7 , the West Indies, 207 ; China, 11,711 ; 
and Japan, 8. 

In the public schools of the city there were 23,552 
pupils; of whom 11,796 were boys and 11,756 were 
girls: in one school building alone 1,150 boys were in 
attendance. Notwithstanding, there were 5,667 adults 
in the city who could not read or write. It must, how- 
ever, inspire the friends of republican America to know 
that but nine of these illiterates were native-born 
Americans, only two of whom were women. At the 
head of the list of the unlettered stands Ireland, with 
4,885; then follows Italy, with 258; Mexico, 283; Chili, 
44; West Indies, ']2i\ England, 29; Poland, 33; Portu- 
gal, 23; and 40 negroes. The Chinese are not found 
in these numbers of uneducated, as all Chinese read 
and write their own language. 

The federal census of 1850 gave the population of 
California at 92,597 ; of whom 70,340 were native, 
21,802 were foreign, and 455 unknown. In i860, it 
was 379,994, there being 233,466 natives and 146,528 
foreigners. The population of 1870 was 560,247; of 



SAN FRANCISCO. 46 1 

whom 350,416 were native American and 209,831 were 
of foreign birth. Of the native population, 323,507 
were the offspring of foreign parents in full or in part, 
and 295,723 were of foreign father and mother. It 
will be seen that in the whole population of the State 
there are but 140,585 more native than foreign born: 
this is the largest proportion of foreign population in 
any State in the Union. Wisconsin comes next to 
California, with 690,320 native and 304,845 foreign pop- 
ulation. The smallest proportion of foreigners in any- 
State is found in North Carolina, which, with a popu- 
lation of 1,071,361, had but 3,029 foreign residents 
according to the last federal census. 

The Chinese population of California in 1870 was 
49,277, and the colored population 4,272. . There were 
also 2)^ Japanese in the State. How surely the mod- 
ern civilization of the white man exterminates his red 
brethren may be understood from the fact that, in i860, 
the Indian population of California was 1 7,798, whereas, 
in 1870, it was but 7,241. Verily the hatchet of the 
red man is burled in the West, but with it the hand 
that once so fiercely wielded it. 

The evidence of the material growth of the com- 
mercial and social affairs of California, and its city by 
the sea occupying the site of the recent little Spanish 
village of Verba Buena, to be realized must be seen, 
studied, and known, as represented in the material de- 
velopment of San Francisco, whose elegant hotels, 
dwellings, stores, schools, theatres, libraries, halls, mar- 
kets, buildings, and streets so delight and surprise vis- 
itors; and the social, intellectual, and moral status of the 
people gathered by intercourse and study of its digni- 
fied judges, able lawyers, shrewd merchants, keen specu- 



462 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

lators, industrious mechanics, celebrated artists, eloquent 
orators, terse writers, unscrupulous politicians, pious 
preachers, charitable people, and animated youth, 

San Francisco fairly represents the social and mate- 
rial condition of the people of the whole State. Here 
may yet be found, as well as the more modern institu- 
tions, traces of the earlier society developed under the 
stimulus of gold and remoteness from the centres of 
civilization. Every thing that can be seen in any large 
city in the world is met with in San Francisco, and a 
great many things entirely unknown elsewhere may be 
seen in the metropolis of the Golden State. With the 
industrious, virtuous, and honest may be found the 
most singular developments of animal life. They came 
across deep seas and over arid plains — the sober, in- 
dustrious, lively, happy, talkative, prosperous, ambi- 
tious, pious, charitable, noble, and generous, and the 
idle, vain, silly, stupid, shrewd, dull, cunning, profane, 
eccentric, reckless, morose, solitary, stolid, miserly, 
bigoted, slandering, sly, deceptive, and pilfering; here 
the loafer, the dandy, and the man with his organ and 
monkey are to be seen, as in every other city in the 
world; besides a large class of beings whose origin and 
history, beginning in distant parts of the globe, under 
the sky of republican freedom or the dome of mon- 
archal tyranny, bud forth in fruitful intensity in the 
freedoms of the newest societies of the new world. 

It must also be admitted that the staid order of older 
communities, in wealth and society, has not been easily 
maintained in a land where a day's development in a 
mine, a turn in stocks, or manipulation of a Spanish 
grant, may elevate to social and financial greatness the 
veriest clown, or sink into complete obscurity the 




CUSTOM HOUSE, ON THE PLAZA. RENT $7,000 A MONTH IN 1849. 




POST OKFICE, COK.NER Oh CLAV AND PIKE STREETS, SAN FRANCISCO 1} 



SAN FRANCISCO. 463 

noblest of the race. Gold everywhere has Its ac- 
knowledged dignity and power in the affairs of man- 
kind, and in no part of the globe has the tricks, fickle 
gildings, and strange metamorphoses of this tyrant 
been more felt than in the new communities of the 
Pacific coast. 

The feverish excitement of the early days of gold- 
mining in California have, to great extent, passed away. 
The cool brow and steady hand of agriculture silently 
lift the laurels of peace and plenty over the deserted 
camp of the early gold-hunter; roving bands of bearded 
pilgrims have settled down to ordered employments 
and new social life as the heads of happy families, 
blessed with the smiles of innocent youth; the noisy 
din of the early mining-camp is turned to social order, 
where the gentle influence of woman and the wise 
counsels of man mould a new order in the directions 
of purity and progress. 

In California, the easy, genial sociability of the people 
must not be confounded with gross and vulgar famil- 
iarity ; on the contrary, a more polite, courteous, and 
dignified people are not to be found in America. As 
a rule, individimlity asserts its dominion with greater 
ease and less display than in any other land. The dig- 
nity of labor has here raised higher its monument than 
elsewhere. Architects from every hemisphere have 
added to its column ; and toilers from every sphere of 
life have placed a stone in its concrete structure and 
bowed before its majesty. 

In San Francisco, and in every town throughout the 
Pacific coast, order, law, safety of person and property 
are established and maintained ; and ample facilities 
for the enjoyment of life, cultivation of the intellect, and 



464 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

religious worship afforded. The population is as firmly 
rooted to the soil as is the people of any part of the 
globe ; and the institutions of the country are founded 
upon broad, comprehensive, and equitable principles, 
shorn of the narrow proscriptions of bigots and fanatics, 
so often found in many of the older settled parts of the 
world. The recognized elements of regulated society 
have, in every section of the coast, usurped the disor- 
dered and unsettled customs of earlier periods, and the 
new societies of to-day count in their composition a 
vast number of the most thoughtful and progressive 
people of the republic. Every town and village on the 
Pacific coast has now its churches, schools, libraries, 
newspapers, societies, and active, intelligent men and 
women: persons thoroughly imbued with the necessity 
of utilizing the material of youth to the growing im- 
portance of the age. 

Whoever doubts the intelligence of the people of the 
Pacific coast, let him turn to the chapters on education 
and schools in this volume; let him also see the circula- 
tion of newspapers, and know that in its newspaper press 
California is at the head of every community in the 
world. No part of progressive New England nor of 
America issues from the newspaper press, in proportion 
to population, as does the Golden State. California, 
with her population of but 560,247, a large percentage 
of whom do not read the English language, (Chinese,) 
maintains 223 newspapers and periodicals, 40 of which 
are dailies and 183 weekly and other publications. 

New York, with a population of 4,382,759, eight times 
that of California, issues but 657 papers of all classes, 
89 only of which are daily ; whereas if this State main- 
tained a newspaper press equal to that of California, in 



SAN FRANCISCO. 465 

proportion to her population, it would be 1,820 instead 
of 657. 

Massachusetts, with a population of 1,457,351, and 
the accumulated learning of centuries, has but 186 
newspapers, only 21 of which are daily, while Cali- 
fornia has 40 of this latter class. It will be seen that 
even Massachusetts is far behind California, maintain- 
ing only a little over one-fourth as many newspapers 
as the latter in proportion to her population. 

The State of Maine, with a population as large as 
that of California, has but 54 newspapers, only six of 
which are daily, against 40 dailies in California. 

There are only two States in the whole Union hav- 
ing more daily newspapers than California: New York, 
wath 89, and Pennsylvania, with 61; while California has 
40. The Golden State stands fifth in the list of all the 
States in the aggregated number of newspapers, as fol- 
lows : New York, 657; Pennsylvania, 471 ; Illinois, 409 ; 
Ohio, 331 ; California, 223. Delaware, with one-quarter 
the population of California, has but one daily newspaper; 
and Florida, with one-third, has but the same — a soli- 
tary daily paper. The whole number of newspapers 
published on the Pacific coast is 305, of which Cali- 
fornia has 223, there being 88 of every description in 
the city of San Francisco alone ; the remainder being 
divided as follows: Oregon, 32; Nevada, 12; Wash- 
ington Territory, 1 5 ; Idaho, 6 ; Utah, 9 ; Arizona, 2 ; 
Alaska, i ; and British Columbia, 5. 

California has a newspaper for every 2,500 of her 
people. The aggregate number of newspapers in the 
republic is 6,100, and the population 38,555,983; this 
is but one paper to each 7,000, and if the number 
throughout the Union was in proportion to the number 
30 



466 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

in California, instead of 6,ioo newspapers there would 
be 1 6,400 in the country. 

Marin. — Directly north of the county of San Fran- 
cisco, and divided from it by the Golden Gate and the 
waters of the Bay of San Francisco, is Marin county, 
with an area of five hundred and seventy square miles. 
The surface is rugged hills, alternating with numerous 
small valleys; the hills in some places are well wooded, 
and there are innumerable springs and creeks. As a 
grazing field it is unsurpassed; wild oats and native 
grasses grow luxuriantly, and the rains of winter and 
fogs of summer keep a large part of the county a field 
of perpetual verdure. The largest and most complete 
dairies in the world are in this county, at one of which 
2,500 milch cows are kept. The total number of cat- 
tle in the county is 25,000: of this number 17,000 are 
milch cows; and although there are 230,000 milch 
cows in the State, yet Marin county, with 1 7,000, pro- 
duces 1,800,000 pounds of butter, or more than one- 
third of the whole annual product of the State. There 
are also 400,000 pounds of cheese made in the county 
annually, and varied branches of agriculture and fruit- 
growing are prosecuted. The climate is perpetual 
summer ; the temperature varies but little from sixty- 
five degrees the whole year, and the heat of summer is 
never felt. Marin county is bounded upon the west by 
the Pacific ocean, north by Sonoma, east by San Pablo 
and San Francisco bays, and south by the Golden Gate. 
Olema, Bolinas, San Quentin, Saucellto, and San 
Rafael are the principal towns. The population of the 
county is 6,903 ; of whom 3,761 are native American 
and 3,142 of foreign birth. The population of San 



COAST COUNTIES. 467 

Rafael, the county-seat, is 831. Paper and powder are 
manufactured in the county, and at the town of San 
Quentin is located the State prison. No minerals of 
any description have yet been discovered in Marin 
county. 

Sonoma. — North of Mann county, bounded upon 
the west by the Pacific ocean, north by Mendocino, 
northeast and east by Lake and Napa, and south by 
Marin, is the county of Sonoma, containing 1,400 square 
miles — 94 square miles more than the State of Rhode 
Island. The population of the county is 19,819; of 
whom 15,656 are native born and 4,163 are of foreign 
birth. Santa Rosa, the county-seat, has a population 
of 2,901. This county is accessible by water from the 
Bay of San Francisco, and upon the ocean from the 
waters of the Pacific. The county is diversified with 
rolling hills and rich valleys ; considerable oak, cedar, 
madrona, and other trees grow. The soil is rich be- 
yond comparison, and the country generally is one of 
the most lovely spots in the world. Upon the sea-coast 
the summer is cool, but in the southern and central 
portions it is warm ; nothing can surpass the bright, 
sunny days of summer in this charming section. Agri- 
culture is the chief business of the people, and the 
grape attains great perfection and is cultivated exten- 
sively. The orange and fig grow well. In the produc- 
tion of grapes and wine, Sonoma is surpassed in the 
State only by the county of Los Angeles. The num- 
ber of grape-vines in the county is 3,500,000. Large 
quantities of grapes reach the San Francisco market 
from this section, and there are 500,000 gallons of wine 



468 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and 10,000 gallons of brandy produced in the county 
annually. Sonoma is surpassed only by one county in 
the State in producing apples, and is third in the pro- 
duction of peaches and plums. It has the largest area 
of land enclosed (460,000 acres) and the largest num- 
ber of acres cultivated (250,000) of any county in the 
State. 

There are 1,900,000 bushels of wheat, 325,000 bushels 
of barley, 100,200 bushels of corn, 300,000 bushels of 
oats, 270,000 bushels of potatoes, 160,000 pounds of 
wool, 250,000 pounds of cheese, and 650,000 pounds of 
butter produced in the county annually. There are in 
the county 53,000 sheep, 14,000 horses, and 40,000 cat- 
tle; eight grist-mills and sixteen saw-mills. There are 
but four counties in the State having a larger value of 
real and personal property. Copper and quicksilver 
have been found in Sonoma, but not in any great quan- 
tity ; no mines of gold or silver have yet been worked. 
The celebrated Geysers and hot and numerous sulphur 
springs are in this county. Sonoma is one of the most 
lovely and most prosperous sections of California. 
Petaluma, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Bodega, 
and Cloverdale are the principal towns. 

Mendocino. — On the sea-coast, bounded west by the 
Pacific ocean, north by Humboldt and Trinity counties, 
east by Tehama, Colusa, and Lake, and south by So- 
noma and Lake, is the county of Mendocino, with an 
area of 3,816 square miles — three times the area of 
the State of Rhode Island — and a population of 7,545; 
there being 6,147 native Americans and 1,398 of foreign 
birth. 



COAST COUNTIES. 469 

The surface of the county is rough, and the hills 
covered with dense forests of redwood, cedar, fir, and 
many other varieties ; as a grazing region it is unsur- 
passed, and large areas of the best description of agri- 
cultural lands still remain unoccupied. Lumbering and 
stock-raisinof are carried on to considerable extent. 
The county is well watered, but there is no harbor of 
magnitude on the coast. Albion, Mendocino, Punta 
Arenas, and Ukiah are the chief towns : the latter, with 
a population of 965, is the county-seat. 

There are 200,000 acres of land enclosed, and 84,000 
acres cultivated; and 200,000 bushels of wheat, 300,000 
bushels of barley, 20,000 bushels of corn, 15,000 bushels 
of peas, 500,000 bushels of potatoes, 200,000 pounds 
of hops, 1 50,000 pounds of butter, and 300,000 pounds 
of wool produced annually. There are in the county 
five grist-mills, twenty saw-mills ; 10,000 horses, 3,500 
mules, (the largest number of the latter in any county 
in the State,) 30,000 cattle, 25,000 hogs, and 200,000 
sheep ; Los Angeles county only surpassing it in the 
latter. No mines of importance have yet been dis- 
covered. 

In winter the climate is several degrees colder than 
at San Francisco, and but few of the semi-tropical fruits 
grow well ; but the grape and many varieties of fruit 
thrive well, and the climate generally is warm and de- 
lightful. The fogs from the ocean during summer keep 
the grass green, and as a grazing county Mendocino is 
unsurpassed in the State. 

Humboldt. — Bounded west by the Pacific ocean, 
north by Klamath, east by Trinity, and south by Men- 



470 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

docino, is Humboldt county, with an area of 2,800 square 
miles — 580 square miles larger than the State of Dela- 
ware — and with a population of 6,140; of whom 4,646 
are native Americans and 1,494 ^^^ ^^ foreign birth. 
Eureka is the county-seat. The surface of the country 
is rugged ; the hills are clad with dense forests of red- 
wood and fir ; the pasture ranges are wide and excellent, 
and there are many rich and fertile valleys in which the 
various branches of agriculture are carried on most 
successfully. Lumbering, grazing, and farming are all 
carried on to considerable extent. No mines of impor- 
tance have yet been found. Rivers and creeks of great 
volume and purity water this section, and Humboldt 
bay affords an entrance to ships of large size. The 
soil is most productive, and nearly all the grains, fruits, 
and vegetables grow well. The county is celebrated 
for its yield of potatoes : 640,000 bushels (the largest 
quantity grown in any county in the State) are pro- 
duced annually. Peas grow well : 70,000 bushels 
(more than half the product of the State) are grown in 
this county. It is also the third county in the produc- 
tion of oats. Dairying, stock-raising, agriculture, and 
lumbering are all carried on extensively ; but the cul- 
tivation of the grape and the semi-tropical fruits of 
the southern portion of the State has not been much 
prosecuted. The climate like that of the greater por- 
tion of the State is perpetual summer; snow falling 
only upon the high mountains, while the valleys below 
are perpetual verdure. Summer heats are never op- 
pressive, the cool breeze off the ocean keeping the 
temperature even, and the fogs and damps keeping 
vegetation green. Railroads building from tlie south- 



COAST COUNTIES. 47 1 

ern portion of the State, soon to connect this section by 
rail with San Francisco, will develop the great natural 
resources of this section. 

Klamath, — North of Humboldt county, and bounded 
upon the west by the Pacific ocean, north by Del Norte, 
east by Siskiyou, and south by Humboldt, is Klamath 
county, with an area of two thousand square miles, and 
a population of i,686. It is the only county but one in 
the State having more foreign than native inhabitants, 
there being 893 of the former and 793 of the latter. 
The country is mountainous in the extreme ; the hills are 
covered with dense forests of valuable timber, and the 
valleys with luxuriant grass. There are many rich val- 
leys ; and mines of gold, silver, copper, and other metals 
are worked successfully. Upon the ocean-beach the 
sands are washed for gold, and in some places pay well : 
each rise of the tide and each surge of the sea brings up 
new grains of gold, so that the work of extracting the 
precious metal from the sands goes on continuously. 
There is no good harbor on the coast line of this 
county. Trinidad bay affords some shelter and good 
anchorage. The county is well watered; but, owing 
to its mountainous character and its remoteness and 
want of means of transportation, its resources are but 
little developed. Orleans Bar, a small mining-camp, is 
the county-seat. Sawyers Bar and Trinidad are the 
only other places of any importance in the county. The 
climate is good: in winter, considerable depth of snow 
falls in the mountains, but the valleys are open and 
cattle graze at larofe throuo-hout the whole vear. The 
rainfall is three times as great on the coast of this 



472 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



county as it Is In the vicinity of San Francisco. Snow 
in the mountains and rain In the valleys make up win- 
ter, while summer Is long, dry, and charming. Wheat, 
oats, barley, vegetables, and most of the fruits grow 
abundantly. 

Del Norte. — Bounded west by the waters of the 
Pacific ocean, north by the Oregon State line, east by 
Siskiyou, and south by Klamath, is the county of Del 
Norte, the most northern county in the State, and the 
last upon the sea-coast line or coast counties. The area 
of this county is 1,440 square miles — 134 square miles 
greater than the State of Rhode Island. The popula- 
tion of Del Norte is 2,022, there being 1,580 native 
Americans and 442 foreigners. The principal towns 
are Altaville, Happy Camp, and the county-seat. Crescent 
City. Close to the ocean at this point steamers and 
vessels find anchorage, but there is no harbor of safety. 
The rainfall in this county is three times* as great as at 
San Francisco ; snow falls in the mountains to consider- 
able depth in winter, and frost is keenly felt, but the 
cold weather is of short duration, and in the valleys 
pasturage is green, and sheep, cows, and horses graze 
at large during the whole year. Along the sea-coast 
the damps from the ocean keep the air cool in summer, 
but inland it is warm during the summer months. The 
surface of the country is rough; the hills and moun- 
tains are covered with dense forests and undergrowth. 
Througliout the county there are many rich valleys 
and wide pasture-ranges. Mines of gold, silver, copper, 
and other minerals are found, and mining is carried on 
to considerable extent, there being many rich gold 



COAST COUNTIES. 473 

quartz mines in this section. On the ocean-beach the 
sands are washed for gold, in many instances with 
profit: the agitation of the waves at each storm seems 
to throw up new deposits of gold-dust, affording a con- 
tinuous field for the labor of the miner. 

The county is well suited to the various branches of 
agriculture. Wheat, oats, barley, and fruit grow well; 
and even in this extreme northern section of the State 
the grape, lemon, fig, walnut, and orange are cultivated, 
although the semi-tropical fruits, so far, are not grown 
to any extent, and do not thrive so well as farther 
south; indeed, none of the semi-tropical fruits grow to 
any extent in this section. 



474 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



Interior and valley counties — Resources, climate, and population — 
Siskiyou — Trinity — Shasta — Tehama — Butte — Colusa — Yuba — 
Sutter — Yolo — Lake — Napa — Solano — Sacramento — Contra Cos- 
ta — Alameda — San Joaquin — Stanislaus — Santa Clara — Merced — 
Fresno — Tulare — Kern — San Bernardino. 

Leaving the coast range of counties, and going inte- 
riorward, adjoining the southern Oregon State line, is 
found a range of counties embracing, in the northern 
portion, a high mountainous region, and, extending 
southward, occupy a large section of the foot-hills of 
the Sierras, and still further south embrace the great 
valleys and agricultural districts of the State. A great 
variety of climate and resources is found in this chain 
of counties, stretching from Oregon to Mexico, a dis- 
tance of seven hundred miles. In the section of these 
counties in the Sierras snow falls to a great depth, and 
winter wears a stern frown for three months of the year, 
while through the central and southern portions snow 
is never seen, and toward the Mexican line it is tropi- 
cal, and great heat and drought prevail throughout the 
long, dry summers. To distinguish these counties from 
the others in the State, they are known as the 

INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES, 

The first of which, beginning at the Oregon State line, 
and facing southward, is 

Siskiyou — Bounded north by the southern State line 
of Oregon, east by the State of Nevada, south by Las- 
sen, Shasta, and Trinity counties, and west by the coun- 



INTERIOR AND VAILEY COUNTIES. 475 

ties of Klamath and Del Norte. This is one of the 
largest counties in the State, having an area of 8,740 
square miles — equal in extent to the combined area of 
the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, the Duchy of Anhalt, 
and the Principality of Lichtenstein, and within a frac- 
tion of the size of the territory of the States of Rhode 
Island and Massachusetts combined. 

The population of Siskiyou county is 6,848; of whom 
4,321 are native American and 2,527 are of foreign 
birth. The face of the country is a succession of 
mountains, valleys, forests, lakes, and rivers. There 
are many large and rich valleys, yielding most abun- 
dantly of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, fruits, and berries; 
and several large lakes and rivers supply the county 
with water, and large areas of pasture range making 
it a superior location for stock-raising. The mountains 
are high, and, in winter, covered with great depth of 
snow. The famous Mount Shasta, 14,440 feet above 
the sea-level, is in this county. 

Mines of gold, in placer and quartz, are worked with 
profit, and mines of great richness are in course of de- 
velopment. The resources of the county are varied, 
and consist of agriculture, fruit-growing, lumber, grazing, 
and mining. 

The climate is colder in winter than in any other sec- 
tion of the State, but never so cold that horses, sheep, 
and cattle cannot pasture in the valleys throughout the 
whole year. Summer is delightful in this region, and 
in some sections it is quite warm; but altogether the 
climate is mild and beautiful. A line of railroad, in- 
tended to run from the Sacramento valley to Oregon, 
will pass through this county, and will greatly develop 
its varied resources. There are no cities or towns of 



476 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

any importance in Siskiyou. Yreka is the county- 
seat. 

Turning southward from Siskiyou, a description of 
all the counties embraced between the coast tier and 
the range along the Sierras, embracing mountain, valley, 
and "bay counties," and representing the great agricul- 
tural centre of the State, will be here given. 

Trinity. — Bounded upon the north by Klamath and 
Siskiyou, east by Shasta and Tehama, south by Mendo- 
cino, and west by Humboldt, is Trinity county, with an 
area of i,8oo square miles, and a population of 3,213, 
consisting of 1,397 native Americans and 1,816 for- 
eigners. This county is known as a "mountain county;" 
its surface is rug-aed in the extreme. The mountains 
are clad in forests of oak, fir, and pine, and there are 
many beautiful and fertile valleys, and the county is 
well watered. Snow falls to considerable depth in 
winter, but cattle graze at large throughout the year. 
Placer and quartz mining are carried on to a consider- 
able extent. The resources of the county are mining, 
grazing, farming, fruit-growing, and lumbering. Rain 
falls to a very great extent in winter; summer is mild, 
but warm. Wheat, barley, oats, corn, potatoes, and 
fruit grow well, and the grape, lemon, fig, and mul- 
berry all grow in this section, but not so well as farther 
south. 

There are but few towns of any importance in the 
county. Weaverville is the county-seat. The mines 
in this section, so far as worked, are river, surface, and 
bank. The greatest quantity of water used for mining 
purposes in any county in the State is used in Trinity. 
The principal mining in the county is done by Chinese 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 477 

large numbers of whom worked the surface-mines long 
since abandoned by the whites. 

Shasta. — Bounded north by Siskiyou, east by Lassen, 
south by Tehama, and west by Trinity, is the county of 
Shasta, with an area of 4,500 square miles, and a popu- 
lation of 4,173, divided between 2,937 native Americans 
and 1,236 foreigners. This county is within a fraction 
of the size of the State of Connecticut, and is more 
than three times as large as the State of Rhode Island, 
and equal to the whole Papal States. The surface is a 
succession of rugged mountains, deep ravines, and 
beautiful valleys. Mining, agriculture, grazing, fruit- 
growing, and lumbering are the chief resources of the 
county. There are more than one and a-half million 
grape-vines in the county, and the lemon, fig, and other 
fruits grow well. It is the best-watered section in the 
State. The head-waters of the Sacramento and innu- 
merable other streams send out their branches in all 
directions through this county. 

The climate of Shasta county is charming. In winter 
snow falls to a considerable depth in the mountains, 
and the weather is cold, but cattle graze upon the 
valleys and hill-sides throughout the year. The heat 
of summer is not intense, and the weather, generally, 
is delightful. But few towns of importance have yet 
grown in this county. Shasta is the county-seat. Coal 
and iron, as well as the precious metals, are found. 
The railroad building from the Sacramento valley to the 
State of Oregon will pass through this region, and will 
aid in developing its varied resources. 

Tehama. — Approaching the valley of the Sacra- 
mento, and at the head navigable waters of the Sacra- 



478 "^HE GOLDEN STATE. 

mento river, is the county of Tehama, embracing an 
area of 2,800 square miles, and having a population of 
3,587; of whom 2,834 ^"^^ native Americans and 753 
are of foreign birth. This county is more than double 
the size of the State of Rhode Island, and has a great 
variety of resources — placer mines of gold, rich agri- 
cultural lands, grazing ranges, and forests of valuable 
trees. Portions of the country are rugged, but there 
are large and beautiful valleys of most rich and pro- 
ductive soil, yielding grain, vegetables, and fruits of 
every variety. Farming is pursued with great energy 
and profit. The railroad connecting California and 
Oregon passes through this county. The climate is 
mild; snow sometimes falls upon the mountains, but 
the face of the country in winter is perpetual verdure. 
The grape and most of the semi-tropical fruits grow 
well. The rainfall is considerable in winter. During 
a part of summer the weather is very warm. The 
Sacramento river passes through the county, and is 
navigable to Re4 Bluff, the county-seat, a town of 920 
inhabitants. The town of Tehama has a population of 
only 163, and so far there is no city of importance in 
the county of Tehama. 

In the northern portion of the county stands Lassens 
peak, 10,577 feet above the sea. More than half a mil- 
lion pounds of wool are produced annually. The county 
is eminently an agricultural one. 

Butte. — South of Tehama and bounded northwest by 
Tehama, northeast by Plumas, southeast by Yuba, 
south by Sutter, and west by Colusa, is the county of 
Butte, with an area of 1,458 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of 1 1,403 ; there being 7,428 native Americans and 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 479 

3,975 persons of foreign birth. The county embraces 
a portion of the foot-hills and mountains of the Sierras, 
and a large area of the most productive agricultural 
lands In the State. The resources of this section are 
varied — mines of gold of great richness, deep forests 
and rich ag-ricultural lands. The climate is deliirhtful : 
upon the, high mountain tops snow falls in winter, but 
throughout the valleys the climate is perpetual summer. 
Grain, fruit, and vegetables grow abundantly, and many 
of the semi-tropical fruits ripen to perfection. Rains 
fall to considerable extent in winter, but the summers 
are long, dry, and In some places excessively hot ; but 
the weather altogether Is charming. The lemon, fig, 
walnut, almond, olive, orange, and mulberry all grow 
well ; and farming, dairying, grazing, mining, and lum- 
bering are carried on extensively. 

There are several growing towns in the county : 
Orovllle Is the county-seat; Chico, with a population 
of 3,718, Is a prosperous and Increasing town. Lines 
of railroad traversing the county, together with its genial 
climate and varied resources, make it one of the most 
prosperous portions of the State. 

Colusa. — Bounded north by Tehama, south by Yolo, 
and west by Mendocino and Lake, is the county of 
Colusa, with an area of 2,376 square miles, and a popu- 
lation of 6,165 ; of whom 5,088 are Americans and 1,077 
are of foreign birth. This county is fifty-one square 
miles larger than the State of Delaware, and possesses 
great natural resources. Salt, sulphur, and quicksilver 
are found in the northwestern portions of the county, 
but so far no mines of any importance of gold or silver 
have been discovered. Agriculture and grazing are 



480 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the chief pursuits of the people. The Sacramento 
river passes through the eastern side of the county for 
its entire length. Colusa is eminently an agricultural 
county, being one of the chief wheat-growing counties 
in the State. Rains fall to considerable extent in winter, 
but snow is never seen, and the climate is protracted 
summer. Every variety of grain, vegetables, and fruits 
grow well, and many of the semi-tropical fruits attain 
great perfection. 

There are no towns of importance in this county: 
Colusa, the county-seat, with a population of 1,051, and 
Princeton and Monroeville, are the principal ones. 

Yuba. — Bounded- on the north by Butte, east by 
Nevada and Sierra, south by Sutter and Placer, and 
west by Sutter and Butte, is the county of Yuba, with an 
area of six hundred square miles, and a population of 
10,851 ; of whom 6,144 are native Americans and 
4,707 of foreign birth. This county consists of moun- 
tains, rolling hills, forests, and beautiful valleys of un- 
surpassed productiveness. The climate is perpetual 
summer. Winter is distinguished only from the other 
seasons by the rainfall. Summer is long, dry, and ex- 
ceedingly hot in many of the valleys and canons. Mines 
of gold, of great richness, are still worked, and greal. 
quantities of fruit and grain are raised, many of the 
semi-tropical fruits attaining great perfection. The 
orange, lemon, fig, walnut, almond, mulberry, and grape 
all grow well. More than one-half of the castor beans 
grown in California are produced in this county. Con- 
siderable lumber Is made, but the chief wealth of the 
county is its varied agricultural and mineral resources. 
There Is one woollen factory in operation in the county. 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 48 1 

Marysville, the county-seat and principal city, has a 
population of 4,375, and is connected with various parts 
of the State by railroad and river navigation. 

Sutter. — In the fertile valley of the Sacramento, 
bounded north by Yuba and Butte, east by Yuba and 
Placer, south by Yolo and Sacramento, and west by 
Yolo and Colusa, is Sutter county, with an area of 576 
square miles, and a population of 5,030; there being 
3,949 native Americans and 1,081 of foreign birth. 
This is eminently an agricultural county. A portion 
of the northern section is covered with rugged hills, 
and large areas of the western side is ttile land, subject 
to overflow in winter; but the greater portion of the 
county is fit for cultivation, and large quantities of grain, 
fruit, and vegetables are cultivated. The climate is 
continuous summer: rain falls to considerable extent in 
winter, and the summers are long, dry, and exceedingly 
hot. The Sacramento river passes along the western 
side of the county, and the Feather river through it. 
All the grains, and the orange, grape, lemon, fig, 
almond, walnut, and mulberry grow well. There are 
few towns of any size. Yuba City, with one thousand 
inhabitants, is the county-seat. Railroads intersect the 
county, which is altogether prosperous. 

Yolo. — Lying west of the Sacramento river, and 
bounded north by Colusa, east by Sutter and Sacra- 
mento, south by Solano, and west by Lake and Napa, 
is the county of Yolo, with an area of 1,150 square 
miles, and a population of 9,899; of whom 7,778 are 
native Americans and 2,121 are of foreign birth. A 
portion of the northwestern side of the county is hilly, 
and along the streams and rolling hills oak and other 
31 



482 THE GOLDEN S7\4TE. 

trees grow; but the greater part of the surface is level, 
with deep rich soil, entirely free from forest, shrub, or 
stones: there is considerable low tuie lands along the 
Sacramento river. The soil is rich, and grain, fruit, 
vegetables — in fact, almost any thing that grows from 
the soil in any part of the world — can be produced in 
tliis county. The climate is uninterrupted summer. Th 
rains of winter are neither cold nor excessive, and 
summer is delightful, although very hot in many places. 
Yolo is altogether an agricultural county. One and 
a-half million bushels of wheat are grown annually in 
tliis county, and the orange, lemon, grape, fig,, and 
every variety of agricultural product grows most abun- 
dantly. Half the mulberry trees in the State are in 
Yolo, and one-third of the pea-nuts grown in California 
are produced in this county. 

There are few towns of importance in Yolo. Wood- 
land, a prosperous and growing place in the southern 
portion of the county, is the county-seat. Railroads 
pass through the principal valleys, and the county 
generally may be regarded as one of prosperity. 

Lake. — Bounded north by Mendocino, northeast by 
Yolo and Colusa, south by Napa, and southwest by 
Mendocino and Sonoma, is the county of Lake, with an 
area of 972 square miles, and a population of 2,969 ; 
divided between 2,483 native Americans and 486 
foreigners. The surface of this county is a succession 
of rolling hills, deep canons, and rich valleys. The 
hills are well wooded, and there is an abundant supply 
of water and native grasses. The resources of this 
county are varied — lumbering, farming, and grazing. 
Quicksilver, sulphur, borax, and copper are obtained in 




I 



CRATER OF THE CIWT rE\SLR, \ LLLC \\ bTUNE RECION, ^^^O^^^C TERRITOR"^ 
(Line of the Northern Pacific Railroad ) 




THE FAN GEYbEK, YELLOWSTONE REGION, WyOMINCJ TERRITmRV. 
(Line of the Northern Pacific Railroad.) 




IJATHING POOLS, YELLOWSTONK REGION, WYOMING TERRITORY. 
(Line of the Northern Pacific Railroad.) 




THE GROTTO GEYSER, YELLOW STONI. REGION, W YOMING TERKITOKY. 
tLine of the Northern Pacific Railroad j 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 483 

considerable quantities. So far, neither gold nor silver 
have been found. The climate of Lake county is sum- 
mer perpetually, and the general aspect of the county at 
all times is picturesque and charming. The weather, 
without being too hot, is warm and most delightful. 
Grazing, dairying, fruit-growing, and farming are all 
carried on successfully. Most of the semi-tropical fruits 
grow here, and the soil is very productive. The 
almond, walnut, fig, olive, and mulberry grow in Lake 
county. There are no towns of importance in the 
county. Lakeport, the county-seat, has a population 
of 297 persons. The county is generally prosperous. 

Napa. — Bounded north by Lake, northeast by Solano 
and Yolo, south by Solano and the Bay of San Pablo, 
and west by Sonoma, is Napa county, with an area of 
828 square miles, and a population of 7,163; of whom 
5,394 are native American and 1,769 are of foreign 
birth. The general features of this county are succes- 
sive hills, mountains, and beautiful valleys. Forests of 
oak and other trees fringe the hill-sides and dot the 
valleys. Springs of boiling hot water, mineral, soda, 
and sulphur springs of great beauty and value are 
found. No mines of the precious metals have yet been 
discovered in this county ; but sulphur, copper, and 
quicksilver are obtained. The springs of soda and the 
hot springs of the county are favorite places of resort 
for invalids and pleasure-seekers ; and the soda, pure 
from the springs, is largely sold over the State. Napa 
is eminently an agricultural county ; the grape, orange, 
fig, lemon, walnut, olive, mulberry, and almost every 
variety of fruit, grain, and vegetables growing most 
abundantly. The climate is continuous summer, and 



484 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

the whole surface of the county perpetual verdure. 
Frost is occasionally seen in January, but never suffi- 
cient to affect vegetation. Summer is dry, and in most 
places in the county the weather is quite warm, although 
never excessively hot. The waters of the Bays of San 
Francisco and San Pablo afford direct water communi- 
cation to and from San Francisco. The chief towns in 
the county are Napa City, the county-seat, Calistoga, 
where are located the hot springs and petrified forests, 
St. Helena, Suscol, and Sebastopol. There are forty- 
six miles of railroad in the county, the permanent agri- 
cultural wealth of which is fast developing. 

Solano. — Bounded north by Yolo and Napa, east by 
the Sacramento river, south by Suisun bay and the 
Straits of Carquinez, and west by Napa, is the county 
of Solano, with an area of 800 square miles, and a pop- 
ulation of 16,871; of whom 11,263 ^''^ native American 
and 5,608 are of foreign birth. Along the northern 
side of the county are rolling hills, covered with oak 
and other timber ; but the great body of the county is 
level and slightly rolling land of unsurpassed fertility, 
producing grain, fruit, vegetables, grapes, and many 
of the semi-tropical fruits in great abundance. No 
precious metals have been discovered in this county ; 
but cement, marble, and coal are found. The county 
having railroads and a direct water communication with 
San Francisco gives it superior commercial advantages. 
The climate is perpetually mild; the heavy falls of 
rain in winter and the drought of summer alone dis- 
tinguishing the seasons. Agriculture is the chief re- 
source of the county, there being but one county in the 
State having a greater area of cultivation. There are 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 485 

almost one and a-half million grape-vines in Solano, 
and two million bushels of wheat grown annually. 
Two-thirds of all the flax grown in California is grown 
in this county. 

Vallejo, where the United States navy-yard is situ- 
ated, is the chief city of the county, and is growing fast: 
its population is 6,392. The other chief towns in this 
county are Benicia, with a population of 1,660, Rio Vista, 
Suisun, Vacav'ille, and Fairfield, the county-seat. 

There are but three counties in the State surpassing 
Solano in the production of wheat. The country is fast 
filling up with industrious and prosperous farmers. 

Sacramento. — Bounded north by Placer and Sutter, 
east by El Dorado and Amador, south by Contra Costa 
and San Joaquin, and west by the Sacramento river, is 
Sacramento county, with an area of 1,026 square miles, 
and a population of 26,830, divided between 16,228 
native Americans and 10,602 foreigners. The county 
has a diversity of soil and resources. Upon its eastern 
side are spurs and ridges of the foot-hills of the Sierras, 
well timbered with oak and other trees. This region, 
once the busy scene of mining, is now covered with the 
grape-vine, orchards, and farms. There are large areas 
of valley lands, and toward the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin rivers almost one-third of the area of the county 
is low, rich soil, subject to overflow in spring : this land 
is unsurpassed for its productiveness ; vegetables, grain, 
and fruit of almost every variety grow to perfection. 
Toward the foot-hills, gold-mining had been carried on 
to considerable extent some years ago, but, with the 
exception of some placer mines worked by Chinamen, 
no mines of any importance are now worked. The 



486 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

climate of this county is delightfully mild. Along the 
foot-hills there are slight falls of snow in winter, but 
throughout the valleys snow is never seen. Rain falls 
freely in winter, and the valleys in summer are exces- 
sively hot and dry, grass being crisped by the heat of 
the sun and the dry, hot winds. The Sacramento river 
and various railroads afford abundant means of travel 
to and through the county. 

Extensive and varied agriculture and manufacturing 
industries add to the increasing prosperity of the county, 
which has the second largest population of any county 
in the State. 

This county is famous in history as the home of 
General Sutter, and Sutter's Fort, a short distance from 
the city of Sacramento, is a place ever green in the 
memory of the early gold-hunter. 

Sacramento City, the capital of the State, is built upon 
low ground, on the south side of the Sacramento river. 
It has been subject to overflow, and Is surrounded by 
a levee or earth embankment, and is supposed to be 
secure from the effects of floods. The city is spread 
over a large area of almost water-level plain, built with 
substantial brick and wood houses. The capltol build- 
ing, State agricultural building, and other edifices adorn 
the city, and add much to Its attractions. Beautiful gar- 
dens and shade-trees ornament and beautify the capital 
city, giving It a green and pleasant appearance. Rail- 
road machine-shops, a woollen factory, and various other 
branches of industry give employment to large numbers 
of the people. Trains of cars and lines of steamboats 
run dally between San Francisco and Sacramento. The 
population of the city of Sacramento is 16,298, being the 
second largest city in the State. Folsom is the only 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 487 

town of any Importance outside of Sacramento in the 
county, but there are several small growing places, and 
altogether the county is prosperous. 

Agriculture is the chief resource of the county, and 
the grape, orange, lemon, fig, olive, apple, peach, pear, 
and all the products of the farm grow abundantly. 
Onions, melons, pea-nuts, sweet potatoes, and hops are 
grown to a larger extent in this county than in any 
other in the State. More than one-half of the sweet 
potatoes grown in California annually are produced in 
Sacramento county. 

Contra Costa. — In an easterly direction across the 
bay from San Francisco is the county of Contra Costa. 
It is bounded north by the Straits of Carquinez, Suisun 
bay, and the River San Joaquin, east by San Joaquin 
county, south and southwest by Alameda, and west by 
the Bay of San Francisco. The area of this county is 
756 square miles, and the population Is 8,461 ; of whom 
5,791 are native Americans and 2,670 are of foreign 
birth. Contra Costa is bounded upon three sides by 
water, and is called a "bay county," from the fact that 
it faces upon the Bay of San Francisco. The surface 
of the county is rolling hills and rugged mountains, with 
beautiful fertile valleys, and even the high rolling hills 
have a deep rich soil, and are covered with wild oats 
and native grasses down to the waters of the bay. 
There is little timber, the general face of the country 
being free from tree or shrub. Agriculture, grazing, 
and coal-mining are the chief branches of Industry. 

Monte Diablo, a high chain of mountains, is a promi- 
nent object, and quite visible from the city of San Fran- 
cisco. It is directly east of the Golden Gate and San 



488' THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Francisco. In winter snow falls upon this range, but 
is of short duration, lasting a few days only, during 
which time it is an object of curiosity to the people of 
San Francisco and surrounding country. In this high 
mountain range are inexhaustible beds of coal, pro- 
ducing one hundred and fifty thousand tons annually. 
This is the only county in the State in which coal- 
mining is successfully prosecuted. 

Copper, quicksilver, and other minerals are found in 
Contra Costa, but are not yet developed ; gold nor silver 
has not been discovered in this county. Grain, vege- 
tables, and fruit grow well. The damp and fogs from 
the bay keep the western side of the county cool during 
summer ; but, while these influences preserve the pas- 
turage green, they are a source of annoyance to farmers 
by blighting wheat with rust : indeed, all the portions 
of each county facing the salt water of the Bay of San 
Francisco are subject to rust in the wheat, while a little 
distance from these sections rust is unknown. 

The climate is exceedingly mild, winter being known 
only by its rains. Summer is delightful, the air being 
rendered cool and bracing by the winds sweeping through 
the Golden Gate, and across the bay, and passing over 
the greater portion of the county. 

Martinez, situated near the Straits of Carquinez, is 
the county-seat. Antioch, Alamo, Pacheco, and San 
Pablo are the chief towns in the county, but are all 
small. Nearly all the semi-tropical fruits grow well in 
Contra Costa county, which is eminently an agricultural 
district. 

Alameda. — Directly east from San Francisco, and 
eight miles across the bay, bounded north by Contra 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 489 

Costa, east by San Joaquin, south by Santa Clara, and 
west by the Bay of San Francisco, is Alameda county, 
with an area of 800 square miles, and a populadon of 
24,237; of whom 14,382 are native Americans and 9,855 
are of foreign birth. The surface is a succession of 
beautiful valleys and rolling hills, with deep rich soil, 
covered with wild oats and native grasses. There are 
some rugged hills, and the range of Monte Diablo runs 
through the county. Upon a few flats along the bay, 
and some of the hills, and in the gulches, grow oak and 
other trees; but the general face of the country for 
miles is entirely free from trees, shrubs, or stones, and 
is fit for the plow. The soil is unsurpassed in its pro- 
ductiveness. Grain, fruit, and vegetables grow most 
luxuriantly, and great quantities of berries, cherries, 
and fruit of every description are sent from this county 
to the San Francisco market. The mulberry and most 
of the semi-tropical fruits grow. The resources of the 
county are agriculture, fruit-growing, grazing, and dairy- 
ing. The climate is perpetual summer. Snow never 
falls, and the prevailing winds from the ocean and the 
Bay of San Francisco so temper the climate that, in 
the western side of the county, the heat is never great. 
Coal has been discovered in some parts of the county, 
but none of the precious nor other metals have been 
found. Hot springs and many objects of natural 
beauty exist in the county. Steamers run every hour 
from San Francisco to Alameda, a town containing 
1,557 inhabitants. 

San Leandro, a beautifully situated town in the heart 
of a rich agricultural valley, is the county-seat. Brook- 
lyn, Alameda, Alvarado, Centreville, and Haywood are 
all growing towns in this county. At Alvarado, a beet- 



490 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



sugar mill, producing excellent sugar from beets raised 
in the valley, Is in successful operation. Oakland, di- 
rectly east and across the bay from the city of San 
Francisco, is the principal city in the county, having a 
population of 11,164. It is the third city in size in the 
State. The city of Oakland is built upon a level piece 
of sandy land, beautifully ornamented with evergreens, 
oaks and other native forest trees, which break the 
strong west winds sweeping across the bay ; and in 
summer, when the cold fogs and winds of San Fran- 
cisco are chilling and oppressive, it Is warm, calm, and 
delightful at Oakland. The great overland railroad 
passes through the city, and out upon a wharf of tliree 
miles in length, toward Goat Island and San Francisco, 
where connection is made by ferry-boats. Oakland is 
the home of thousands of persons engaged in business 
in San Francisco. There are numerous educational 
institutions in the city and vicinity. The State univer- 
sity is located at Berkeley, five miles out of town. The 
view from Alameda county is charming: the city of 
San Francisco, with its hills and lofty church spires, the 
beautiful Bay of San Francisco, its islands, the moun- 
tains of Marin county, and the Golden Gate, are all in 
full view; and with the sun sinking into the bosom of 
the ocean, and gilding the landscape and bay, the scene 
is most lovely. 

San Joaquin. — The county of San Joaquin Is situated 
in the fertile valley of that name, which embraces nine 
million acres of the most fertile and tillable land In Cali- 
fornia. The county Is bounded north by Sacramento, 
east by Calaveras, Amador, and Stanislaus, and west by 
Contra Costa and Alameda. The area of the county 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 49 1 

is 1,350 square miles — 44 square miles greater than 
the State of Rhode Island — and contains a population 
of 21,050; of whom 14,824 are native Americans and 
6,226 are of foreign birth. 

The county is almost level. Scattered oaks and 
other trees of beauty dot the plains, lending a most 
picturesque and beautiful aspect. Large areas are 
subject to overflow in winter; but these lands are of 
the richest character, and, when surrounded by levees, 
produce vegetables, grain, and fruit beyond comparison. 
The climate is mild and even. Rains fall to consid- 
erable extent in winter, and the summers are exces- 
sively dry and hot. Grazing and a diversified agricul- 
ture are the chief resources of the county. No miner- 
als, so far, have been discovered. The overland rail- 
road passes through the county, and steamers run from 
San Francisco to Stockton and other points. More 
than one and a-half million bushels of wheat are pro- 
duced annually in this county, which Is in the heart of 
the wheat-growing region of the State. The lemon, 
fig, walnut, almond, mulberry, olive, and orange grow. 

Mokelumne, Farmington, and Woodbridge are grow- 
ing towns. Stockton, the county-seat and principal city 
in the county, has a population of 10,033, ^^^^ i^ ^t the 
head of river navigation on the San Joaquin river: 
boats of light draught, however, ascend farther. Stock- 
ton is a nicely built city and is growing rapidly ; at this 
place is situated the State insane asylum. The city is 
built upon a low plain; it is very dusty and exceedingly 
hot in summer, but well shaded with beautiful trees. 

Stanislaus. — Bounded north by San Joaquin county, 
northeast by Tuolumne and Calaveras, southeast by 



492 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Merced, and west by Santa Clara, is the county of Stan- 
islaus, with an area of 1,350 square miles — 44 square 
miles more than is comprised within the area of the 
State of Rhode Island — and a population of 6,499 I o^ 
whom 5,147 are native and 1,352 are of foreign birth. 
The body of the county is situated between the foot- 
hills of the Sierras and the Monte Diablo ranp-e of 
mountains, and is one of the most fertile sections of the 
State, and produces one-third more wheat than any 
other county in California. Along the foot-hills, in the 
eastern section of the county, placer gold-mines have 
been worked to considerable extent, and copper has 
been discovered ; but the county is eminently an agri- 
cultural one. The surface is generally level, there 
being but little timber, save along the edges of the 
streams and upon the hill-tops. The San Joaquin 
and other rivers flow through the county. Grain, 
vegetables, and fruits of every description grow abun- 
dantly ; and over the level and fertile plains, as far as 
the eye can reach, can be seen miles upon miles of wav- 
ing fields of wheat, unbroken by a single tree, fence, or 
shrub, and in the whole county not an interruption of 
rock or tree obstructs the plow. The climate is pro- 
tracted summer. The rains of winter mantle the whole 
surface in green. Summer is dry and hot ; but, as the 
eveninofs and nisfhts of summer are cool throuorhout the 
whole State, the weather, however hot during the day, 
is never oppressive. Stanislaus produces every variety 
of fruit, grain, and vegetables, and most of the semi- 
tropical fruits grow well ; and one and a-quarter mil- 
lion pounds of wool and three and a-quarter million 
bushels of wheat are produced annually. There are 
no towns of any importance. Knight's Ferry, the 



INTERIOR AND VALIEY COUNTIES. 493 

county-seat, with a population of 850, is the only place 
of importance. 

Santa Clara. — In a southerly direction from San 
Francisco, and separated from it by San Mateo county, 
is the county of Santa Clara, lying between the Monte 
Diablo mountains on the east and the Santa Cruz moun- 
tains on the west, and bounded north by Alameda and 
the head of the Bay of San Francisco, east by Merced 
and Stanislaus, south by Monterey, and west by Santa 
Cruz county. The area of this county is 1,332 square 
miles — 26 square miles larger than the State of Rhode 
Island. The population of the county is 26,246 — the 
third largest of any county in the State — made up of 
17,241 native Americans and 9,005 foreigners. The 
surface of the county is a succession of delightful val- 
leys, rolling hills, and wooded mountains. Upon many 
of the valleys, beautiful oak and other trees grow. The 
soil is deep, rich, and fertile, producing grain, fruit, ber- 
ries, and vegetables in great abundance. In most places 
the surface is entirely free from trees, shrubs, or rock 
to interrupt the plow. The climate is charming ; snow 
never falls, and winter is a succession of mild showers 
and sunshine. Spring (January) presents waving fields 
of grain, verdant hills clad in wild oats and wild flow- 
ers, and vast orchards blooming and fragrant. Just 
enough of the ocean breezes of summer pass over the 
Coast Range of mountains to temper the heat of sum- 
mer to the most balmy and delightful temperature, 
without makinof it either too hot or too cool. 

Agriculture in great diversity, grazing, and stock- 
raisine are the chief resources of the countv. No 
mines of precious metals have yet been discovered, but 



494 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



the famous New Almaden and odier quicksilver mines 
of great richness are In dils county. 

This Is one of the greatest ao^rlcultural counties In 
CaHfornIa, and supphes the San Francisco market with 
great abundance of fruits and berries. One-third of all 
the apple trees In the State are In this county. Peaches, 
apples, pears, cherries, grapes, and other fruits are pro- 
duced In great quantities. There are over three mil- 
lion strawberry vines, producing one and a-half million 
pounds of strawberries annually ; there being but one 
million pounds grown In all the rest of the State. Mon- 
terey and Santa Clara counties produce one-third of all 
the cheese of the State ; the latter county making one 
and three-quarters of a million pounds annually. The 
olive, orange, grape, lemon, fig, and most of the semi- 
tropical fruits grow abundantly, and the county yields 
two million bushels of wheat annually. 

Manufacturing and mechanical industry Is carried 
on to considerable extent. At San Jose and Los Gatos 
are established large woollen factories. The county is 
reached from San Francisco by daily trains and by 
steamboats upon the bay. 

There are several growing towns in the county. The 
county-seat, San Jose, is built upon the rich soil of the 
valley, eight miles Inland from Alvlso, the head of navi- 
gation on the Bay of San Francisco. It contains a 
population of 9,091. The city is well built, having 
many elegant dwellings. The soil in the vicinity is 
,rich, producing abundantly. Beautiful ornamental and 
fruit trees and the numerous flower-gardens lend a 
charming aspect to the place, and make it one of the 
most beautiful cities in the world. The State Normal 
school and other educational Institutions are located 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 495 

here. The next town of importance in the county is 
Santa Clara, three miles northwest from San Jose. 
This town was founded as a mission in 1774. It has a 
population of 3,470. The place is celebrated for its 
educational institutions, the College of Santa Clara and 
the University of the Pacific being located here. Gil- 
roy, Alviso, and Saratoga are also growing towns in 
this county, from which railroads are projected to all 
parts of the southern section of the State, and to the 
Atlantic States. 

Merced. — Lying between the foot-hills of the Sierra 
Nevada and Monte Diablo, in the heart of the San 
Joaquin valley, and with the San Joaquin, Merced, and 
other rivers passing through it, is the county of Merced, 
embracing an area of 1,975 square miles, and having a 
population of but 2,807; of whom 2,196 are native and 
61 1 are of foreign birth. A considerable portion of 
the county is subject to overflow, but is easily re- 
claimed, and almost every foot of the county is of the 
very best description of agricultural land, which will 
produce grain, vegetables, and fruits of every descrip- 
tion most abundantly. The county is bounded north- 
west by Stanislaus, northeast by Mariposa, southeast 
by Fresno, and southwest by Santa Clara and Monterey. 
The surface of the country is generally level. Oak 
and other trees grow about the streams and on the 
mountains, but the body of the county is for miles en- 
tirely free from any obstruction to the plow. The soil 
is easily cultivated, and is rich beyond comparison. No 
mines have yet been discovered. The resources of the 
county are agriculture and grazing. All the semi-tropi- 
cal fruits grow well. The climate is unbroken by the 



^gS THE GOLDEN STATE. 

presence of frost or snow. Winter, with warm rains, 
is a season of verdure. December ushers in waving 
fields of grain, and rich meadows gayly bedecked with 
flowers through the months of January, February, and 
March, with ripe fields of grain in June and July, give 
a continuous season of summer. The progress already 
made by the sparse population of this county is re- 
markable. 

There are no towns of importance in this county. 
Snellings, the county-seat, Dover, Hopeton, and Merced 
Falls are the only places of. any importance. At the 
latter town is situated the woollen factory of the Merced 
Falls Woollen Manufacturing Company. 

Fresno. — Extending from the crest of the Monte 
Diablo or Coast Ranee of mountains to the summit 
of the Sierras, in the midst of the San Joaquin valley, 
and embracing an area of 8,750 square miles, and 
having a population of 6,336; of whom 4,974 are native 
Americans and 1,362 are of foreign birth, is the county 
of Fresno. This county would make six States the 
size of the State of Rhode Island, and have 884 square 
miles to spare. The eastern end of the county, in the 
Sierras, is rugged and mountainous in the extreme. 
Here the grandest forest giants in the world grow. 
The mountains and rolling hills are generally well 
wooded, and mines of gold and other metals are found 
in this section. Extending westward, the body of the 
county lies in the San Joaquin valley. The San Joaquin 
river passes through the centre of the county, and is 
navigable to Fresno City. Other rivers of considerable 
magnitude pass through this county, the great body of 
which is perfectly level, having a deep rich soil, entirely 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 



497 



free from forest or other obstructions. Toward the 
west, where the county joins Monte Diablo, the surface 
is rolhng and rugged. Here the quicksilver mines of 
New Idria are located. 

The climate in this county is varied. In winter con- 
siderable snow falls in that portion in the Sierras, but 
throughout the great valley the whole surface is envel- 
oped in green during the entire winter, affording pas- 
turage to the vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep in 
this county. Summer in the valley is hot, but in the 
mountains it is delightful; and in the hottest and dry- 
est of summer, cattle are driven from the valleys into 
the Sierras, where they graze upon the luxuriant native 
grass and herbage, green during the hottest weather. 
In the valley regions it is perpetual summer, and most 
of the semi-tropical fruits grow well. 

Stock-raising is the chief business of the county, but 
farming is carried on to considerable extent; and the 
soil is rich and well adapted to every branch of agricul- 
ture and fruit-raising. There are a hundred thousand 
cattle and a hundred and fifty thousand sheep in this 
county, and more than a-half million pounds of wool 
grown annually. This section has a charming climate 
and varied natural resources, which are being fast de- 
veloped by lines of railroad building through its rich 
valleys. 

No towns of importance have yet grown in this sec- 
tion. Millerton, the county -seat, Fresno City, and 
Kingston are the only places of any size. 

Tulare. — Bounded on the north and northeast by 
Fresno, east by Inyo, south by Kern, and west by Mon- 
terey, and extending from the Monte Diablo range to 
32 



498 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

the Sierras, occupying a great portion of the fertile Tu- 
lare valley, is Tulare county, embracing an area of 5,600 
square miles — 600 of which are embraced in Tulare 
lake, the largest lake in the State. Several rivers of 
magnitude pour down from the west slope of the Sier- 
ras, and are lost in the depths of the inland sea of Tu- 
lare lake. The population of the county is 4,533 ; of 
whom 3,977 are Americans and 556 are of foreign 
birth. The surface of the county is rugged and moun- 
tainous in the extreme in. the eastern end, which em- 
braces a portion of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and 
is also rugged and hilly on the western end, embracing 
a portion of Monte Diablo. These sections are well 
wooded ; and throughout the broad, rich valley of the 
centre of the county, oak and other trees occasionally 
dot the surface or grow by the river side. 

This county is almost as large as the States of Con- 
necticut and Delaware, and would make four States as 
large as the State of Rhode Island, leaving an area of 
476 square miles. Winter, even in the Sierra range, is 
not severe In this county ; and although considerable 
snow falls It Is of short duration, and cattle and horses 
graze at large through this section the entire year. In 
the valleys It is continuous summer. December, Janu- 
ary, and February present a beautiful scene of verdure. 
Grain, vegetables, and fruits of almost every description 
grow abundantly. Winter In the valleys is made up of 
mild rains and sunshine. Summer is very dry and hot. 
The agricultural capacity of the county Is unsurpassed; 
but stock-raising Is the chief Interest of Tulare, which 
is third in the State In the number of its cattle. The 
grape, lemon, fig, walnut, almond, mulberry, olive, and 
orange all grow well. Mines of gold and other min- 



INTERIOR AND VAIIEY COUNTIES. 499 

erals are found In the county in the western slope of the 
Sierra range, but are Httle developed. 

Visalia, a flourishing town of 762 inhabitants, is the 
county-seat. There are no other towns of any magni- 
tude in the county. Vandalia and Porterville are small 
villages. 

Kern. — Bounded on the north by Tulare, east by 
San Bernardino, south by Los Angeles, and west and 
southwest by San Luis Obispo, is the county of Kern, 
extending from the Monte Diablo range in the west to 
the Sierra Nevada in the east, and occupying the 
southern extreme end of the great fertile valleys of the 
San Joaquin and Tulare. The surface of the country is 
diversified with mountains, plains, valleys, and lakes. 
It is well watered, and forests grow upon the rolling hills 
and mountains and trees along the streams ; but the 
valleys for miles upon miles are an unbroken field of 
native grasses and wild flowers, affording the finest 
pasture-range in the State. The soil is most produc- 
tive, yielding grain, vegetables, and fruits of every 
description. As many as eight full-grown crops of hay 
have been cut upon the same piece of ground in a 
single year in parts of this county. The climate is unin- 
terrupted summer. In January and February snow falls 
lightly upon the Sierra range, but soon disappears. 
Fall, winter, and spring In the valleys are continuous 
seasons of verdure. Winter is interspersed with warm 
showers of rain, balmy atmosphere, and sunshine. The 
lemon, fig, grape, almond, walnut, mulberry, olive, and 
orange all grow well. Mines of gold, silver, and other 
metals are found in the eastern section of the county 
along the range of the Sierra Nevada mountains, some 



500 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



of which are worked with profit; but agriculture and 
grazing are the chief resources of this section, and are 
carried on successfully. Kern embraces an area of 
8,000 square miles — equal to the combined area of 
the Papal States and the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, and within a fraction of the combined area of the 
States of Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island, and 
would make seven States of the size of the latter State. 
The population of Kern is but 2,925; there being 2,157 
native Americans and ^6% foreigners. Heretofore the 
county has been almost inaccessible for want of means 
of transportation ; but railroads now building will de- 
velop the resources of the county. 

There are no towns of any importance in this sec- 
tion. Havilah, the county- seat, has a population of 
439. Bakersville and Kernville are small but growing 
villages. 

Considerable numbers of the cattle and sheep grazing 
in this and Tulare county are owned in other sections 
of the State, and are only herded there because pas- 
turage is abundant. 

San Bernardino. — Occupying the extreme southeast- 
ern part of the State, and running to within twenty miles 
of the ocean on the west, and to the extreme eastern 
line of the State, being in a direct line from Los Ange- 
les county to the Colorado river, a distance of 220 miles, 
and, from the Colorado river to its northern boundary, 
225 miles, and containing an area of 23,472 square miles, 
and a population of 3,988, of whom 3,328 are American 
and 660 are foreigners, is the county of San Bernardino, 
the largest county in California. 

The vast area of this county presents a great diver- 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 50I 

sity of climate, soil, and resources — rich valleys, rolling 
hills, high mountains, sandy deserts, alkaline and dry 
lakes, hot and sulphur springs. The extent of this 
county may be understood when it is considered that it 
is more than four times as ereat as the Kincrdom of 
Saxony, almost double the size of the Kingdom of Hol- 
land with Luxemburg, and would make three States as 
large as the State of Massachusetts, leaving seventy-two 
square miles, and would make eighteen States the size 
of the State of Rhode Island. 

The boundaries of this county are : northwest, Inyo ; 
northeast, the State of Nevada ; east, the Colorado river, 
separating it from Arizona ; south, San Diego ; and 
west, Los Angeles and Kern counties. 

Adjoining the county of Los Angeles, and in the 
vicinity of the Monte Diablo range or San Bernardino 
mountains, is a section of beautiful country, somewhat 
wooded upon the hills, and well watered. Here the soil 
is rich and most productive, and the climate charming. 
In this section are the chief settlements in the county, 
and the county-seat, San Bernardino, with a population 
of 3,060 inhabitants, leaving but 928 in all the remainder 
of the county. In this region are the Temescal moun- 
tains, in which are rich and extensive tin-mines. A 
short distance east of the San Bernardino mountains, 
in this section, at Holcomb and Bear valleys, are rich 
mines of gold in quartz and placer Gold, silver, lead, 
copper, and other minerals are found in many parts of 
the county, and recent discoveries of silver and lead 
near the eastern line, and the Colorado river, show that 
the mineral resources of the county are very great. 
There has been but little mining yet done in this section. 

Throughout the western portion of the county there 



502 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



are many fertile valleys, several high mountains, and 
some springs and lakes ; but toward the central, south- 
ern, and eastern parts of the county are vast sand 
deserts, as far as the eye can reach without a green 
shrub, tree, or hill to break the monotony. No vege- 
table nor animal life is found in these wastes, except once 
in a while a few tufts of bunch grass ; even the horned 
toad cannot find food for sustenance in these regions. 
Here the dreaded sand-storms sometimes overtake the 
forlorn traveller, and the dreariness of the dry lakes 
and the solitude of Death valley strike awe to the heart 
of the " prospecter," and the enchanting illusions of the 
mirage draw his feet toward fancied scenes of pleasure 
and hope, only to be confounded and wrecked upon the 
burning sands of the desert. 

The Sierra Nevada mountains, so formidable in the 
northern end of the State, are broken and thrown about 
in fragments in this section ; so that, in San Bernardino 
county, they are entirely lost : so, too, the great valleys 
of San Joaquin and Tulare are broken up before they 
reach this county, which, in its physical character, is 
entirely different from any other section of the State. 

The climate of the county is summer perpetually. 
Throughout the northern and western part of the county 
rains fall through the months of what is winter at the 
East, although not to any extent; but toward the south- 
eastern end, adjoining Arizona, no rain falls in winter, 
and a few showers in July and August, making about 
three inches of rain, is all the rain that falls during the 
whole year. The heat of summer in this quarter is 
very great. 

Railroads projected to run through the San Joaquin 
valley, and also from San Diego, will pass through this 



INTERIOR AND VALLEY COUNTIES. 503 

county; and at a point near Fort Mohave, where the 
States of CaHfornia and Nevada and the Territory of 
Arizona join, will cross the river Colorado, and con- 
nect with roads through Arizona, New Mexico, and the 
Atlantic seaboard. These roads will develop the re- 
sources and wonders of this county. 

All the semi-tropical and most of the tropical fruits 
will grow in this section. The lemon, fig, mulberry, 
almond, walnut, olive, and orange are all cultivated suc- 
cessfully; and notwithstanding the broad, dry lakes, 
ashy and volcanic beds, and sandy deserts, there are 
vast areas of fertile and most productive land still un- 
inhabited. 



504 T^^ GOLDEN STATE, 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Mountain counties — Area, resources, climate, and population — 
Inyo — Mono — Mariposa — Tuolumne — Calaveras — Amador — Al- 
pine — El Dorado — Placer — Nevada — Sierra — Plumas — Lassen. 

Turning northward from the Colorado river and the 
deserts of San Bernardino county, and following the 
ridge of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Oregon 
State line, is found that range of counties embracing 
the greater part of the Sierras, with their wonderful 
forest giants, lofty mountains, and magnificent water- 
falls; here, too, are the great treasure vaults of the 
Golden State, with representatives of every race and 
kindred of man bowinof to and knocking; at their doors. 
This chain of counties is known as the 

MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 

Some years ago, when the placer mines of some of 
these counties became exhausted, the miners aban- 
doned them and sought the valley counties as a place 
of permanent abode. Within a more recent period, 
the great capacity of these mountain regions for pro- 
ducing grain, vegetables, and fruit has been ascer- 
tained: particularly have they become celebrated for 
grape-growing, and for producing the finest wines in 
California. Nearly every variety of fruit, including the 
orange, olive, lemon, and fig, grow in most of these 
counties, and orchards, vines, and gardens now bloom 
upon the ruins of the early miner's temporary home 
along the foot-hills and gulches of the western slope of 
the Sierras. For diversified agriculture and the far- 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 505 

mer's home, these mountain counties, generally well 
wooded, with pure water and pure air, are much pref- 
erable to the low and flat valley regions; and, although 
it is but a very few years since any attention was first 
paid to agriculture in this section, the material progress 
made is most encouraging. 

Inyo. — The county of Inyo, the most southern of the 
mountain counties, is bounded north by Mono, north- 
east by the State of Nevada, southeast by San Bernar- 
dino, and west by Fresno and Tulare. The area of this 
county is 4,680 square miles — equal to the area of the 
State of Connecticut, and would make three States of 
the size of the State of Rhode Island, leaving 768 
square miles. The whole of this county lies east of the 
Sierra Nevada mountains. The surface is rueeed, and 
interspersed with elevated mountains, lakes, valleys, 
and forests. The loftiest mountains in the State are in 
this county. The climate is mild: snow falls upon the 
mountain ranges in winter, but it is never very cold, 
and throughout the whole year sheep, cattle, and horses 
graze upon the hillsides and valleys. There is but little 
rainfall, and the summers are generally very warm. In 
the region about Owens lake and Owens river there 
is a considerable area of the most fertile land in Cali- 
fornia, and many small valleys of great richness through- 
out the county, many of which are cultivated with great 
profit. There are some forest trees upon the moun- 
tains and hill-sides, but a large area of the eastern por- 
tion of the county is destitute of trees, and is but a 
sandy desert. Springs of salt, sulphur, alkaline, soda, 
and poison are found; and mipes of gold, silver, tin, 
lead, and copper, of great richness, exist. Lead is ex- 



506 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

tensively mined, and veins of quartz, rich in free gold, 
are worked with great profit. The remoteness of the 
county has, so far, much retarded its development. 
Mining, grazing, and agriculture are the chief resources 
of this section. Grain, vegetables, and fruit, including 
grapes, oranges, lemons, figs, and olives, grow, and the 
mulberry thrives well. 

The whole population of the county is but 1,956; of 
whom 1,104 3.re native Americans and 792 are of foreign 
birth. Independence, the county-seat, has a population 
of 400. Cerro Gordo, Bend City, Kearsarge, Lone 
Pine, and Lake City are small towns in the county. It 
was in this county, in the vicinity of Lone Pine, that the 
severest earthquake ever experienced in the United 
States occurred, in March, 1872, as described in a pre- 
ceding chapter. 

Mono. — The next county northward is Mono. Like 
Inyo, it lies entirely east of the Sierras, and these two 
counties are the only ones in the State east of that chain 
of mountains. Mono runs along the Sierras for a dis- 
tance of 170 miles, and is about 40 miles in width, but 
growing narrow toward its northern end. The area of 
this county is 4,1 76 square miles — double the size of the 
State of Delaware, and more than three times as large 
as the State of Rhode Island. It has the smallest popu- 
lation of any county in the State — 430 ; of whom 305 
are native Americans and 125 are of foreign birth. 

The remoteness of this section from markets and the 
lack of means of transportation, more than the want of 
natural resources, have retarded the progress of this 
county. The surface of Mono is rugged and generally 
well wooded, particularly upon its western side. Owens 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 



507 



and other rivers have their fountain-heads in this 
county. Mountains of considerable altitude and lakes 
of wonderful fluids exist. Toward the eastern side of 
the county there are wide areas unfit for tillage, but 
there are also many beautiful and fertile valleys suscep- 
tible of high cultivation ; and grain, vegetables, and 
fruit grow well. None of the semi-tropical fruits nor 
the grape have yet been cultivated. Agriculture and 
mining are the chief resources of the county. Farming 
and grazing are profitably conducted, and mines of 
gold, silver, and other minerals are found, but are yet 
very little developed. The climate is cold in winter, 
considerable snow falling upon the mountains, but in 
the valleys it is mild, and cattle graze upon the native 
grasses throughout the whole year. Summer is long, 
dry, and hot, but most agreeable. 

Benton and Bridgeport are the only towns of any 
importance in the county ; the latter town, situated near 
the Sierras, in the Big Meadows, is the county-seat. 

Mariposa. — ^This county lies directly west of Mono 
lake and upon the western slope of the Sierra Nevada 
mountains, and is almost directly east from the city of 
San Fram:isco. It is bounded north by Tuolumne, east 
by Mono, south by Fresno, and west by Merced ; and 
has an area of 1,440 square miles and a population of 
4,572 ; of whom 2,192 only are Americans, while 2,380 
are of foreign birth. The surface of the country is diver- 
sified with mountains, rolling hills, dense forests, beau- 
tiful valleys, dashing streams, and delightful water-falls. 
Here are the celebrated Big Trees and the famed 
Yosemite Valley and Falls. In that portion of the county 
in the Sierras snow falls to considerable depth in winter, 



5o8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

but along the western side snow is rarely seen, and 
cattle and sheep graze the year round upon the native 
grasses. Summer in the Sierras is delightful, the 
forests, foliage, and grass being green, while in the 
valleys below all is parched with heat. A great portion 
of the county is suited to grazing and farming, and each 
year these pursuits are receiving more attention. Fruit- 
growing is conducted upon a large scale, and with 
profit. The fig, olive, grape, mulberry, almond, and 
orange grow, but not so well as in counties farther 
south. Mariposa possesses great mineral wealth, and 
veins of quartz rich in gold have been and are still 
worked with great profit. This is the most southern 
county of the chain of early mining counties extending 
northward from this point. The principal towns in the 
county are Bear Valley, Coulterville, Hornitos, and 
Mariposa, the county-seat. 

Tuolumne. — North of Mariposa, and extending from 
the crest of the Sierras to the San Joaquin valley in the 
west, a distance of 70 miles, is the county of Tuolumne, 
with an area of 1,944 square miles, and a population of 
8,150; of whom 4,182 are native American and 3,968 
are of foreign birth. The county is bounded northwest 
by Calaveras, north by Alpine, east by Mono, south by 
Mariposa, and southwest by Stanislaus. 

This county is famous in the early history of Cali- 
fornia for its rich placer mines, and still produces 
largely of the precious metals ; but, like many of the 
mining counties, the placers are much exhausted, and 
quartz-mining has taken the place of the crevice-knifp, 
pan, and shovel of the past. The county, once almost 
depopulated upon the failure of the gold placers, is now 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 5O9 

fast developing its inexhaustible resources in producing 
grain, vegetables, and fruit ; and now, in its new pros- 
perity, the vast canals, ditches, and flumes built and 
abandoned by the early miner, carry water to blooming 
gardens, orchards, vineyards, and waving fields of wheat 
and corn. 

The surface of the county is rugged, and throughout 
its eastern end is covered with vast forests of oak, pine, 
and other valuable timber, some of which grow to 
great size. The county is well watered with numerous 
dashing streams, fed by the snows of the Sierras. 
Throughout this section there are innumerable beauti- 
ful and fertile valleys ; and the foot-hills and rolling, 
gravelly ridges, heretofore supposed to be worthless, 
are the finest grape -lands in the State, producing a 
rich, sweet grape, from which the choicest wines are 
produced. Apples, grapes, peaches, and the lemon, 
almond, walnut, mulberry, fig, and orange grow in the 
western slope of the county. 

The climate of this section is charming. Snow falls 
in the Sierra Nevada mountains to considerable depth, 
and winter is cold, but this is only confined to the 
mountains. In the valleys and lower foot-hills snow 
never falls ; and in these sections it is perpetual sum- 
men In the mountains, in summer, the foliage is charm- 
ing ; and the wide ranges of native grasses, green 
throughout the whole summer, while the valleys below 
are parched with heat, afford excellent pasturage and 
a cool and delightful retreat from the heat of summer 
in the low valley counties. Rain falls to considerable 
extent in the western part of the county in winter; but, 
like all the rest of the State, no rain falls from April 
until November. 



5IO 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



The principal towns in the county are Sonora, the 
county-seat, with a population of 2,498, and Columbia, 
with a population of 2,200. Chinese Camp, Big Oak 
Flat, and Springfield are towns of some importance. 

Calaveras.— Northwest of Tuolumne county is the 
county of Calaveras, with an area of 936 square miles, 
and a population of 8,895; consisting of 4,677 native 
Americans and 4,218 foreigners. It is bounded north- 
west by Amador, east and southeast by Alpine and 
Tuolumne, (Alpine lying between it and the crest of 
the Sierras,) and southeast by Stanislaus and San 
Joaquin. The surface of the country is rugged, with 
abrupt mountains, deep canons, and rolling hills. In 
the eastern section there are vast forests, and here are 
the famous "Big^ Trees of Calaveras^' numbered by 
hundreds, some of which are hundreds of feet in height 
and more than thirty feet in diameter. The western 
slope of the county has many beautiful and fertile val- 
leys which are cultivated successfully, and the rolling 
hills produce abundantly of superior grapes. Fruit of 
almost every variety grows, including the orange, fig, 
and lemon; but these do not thrive so well as in the 
more southern section of the State. Calaveras is well 
watered by several rivers of magnitude. 

But a few years ago, this section was regarded as a 
purely mining region ; and, upon the decay of the placer 
gold-mines, people left the county in great numbers 
and disgust. Should the miner of "'49-50" now return, 
he would find wheat-fields, orchards, vineyards, and 
gardens growing upon the hills and in the gulches 
abandoned as worthless years ago, sheep and cattle 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 5II 

grazing upon the hills, and the school-house standing 
upon the ruins of his once lonely bachelor cabin. 

Surface-mining is pretty well exhausted in Calaveras 
county, but mining in quartz, bank, and river is still 
carried on to considerable extent. At this period, the 
resources of the county are mining, agriculture, and 
stock-raising. 

The climate is delightful: in the eastern end of the 
county snow falls in winter, but cold is never intense; 
throughout the southern and western sections a little 
snow falls upon the hills, but in the valleys it is con- 
tinuous summer. Considerable rain falls in what is 
called winter, and the summers are long, dry, and exces- 
sively hot in some places. 

There are several towns of importance in the county: 
Angel's Camp, Mokelumne Hill, Campo Seco, Copper- 
opolis, and San Andreas, the county-seat, are the chief 
ones. 

Amador. — Lying directly north of Calaveras, and 
occupying the foot-hills of the Sierras, is the county of 
Amador; bounded north by El Dorado, east by Alpine, 
south by Calaveras, and west by Sacramento and San 
Joaquin, and with an area of 700 square miles, and a 
population of 9,582 ; of whom 5,449 are native American 
and 4,133 of foreign birth. 

Portions of this county, toward the east, are well 
timbered, and the country generally is well watered. 
The surface is rugged, but toward the western end of 
the county there are many rich valleys and a large area 
of agricultural lands unsurpassed in the production of 
the grape and fruits of almost every description; and, 
although a portion of the county is well up in the snow 



512 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

line of the Sierras, the orange, fig, lemon, and mulberry 
grow well. A few years since the county was regarded 
as worthless for agricultural purposes, and was to a 
great extent abandoned by the miners on the exhaus- 
tion of the placer-mines; but now the character of the 
soil is more fully understood, and orchards, vine- 
yards, and dairies stand upon the hill-sides and in the 
gulches abandoned by the early gold-hunter, and the 
ditches and flumes so lono- forsaken are agrain musi- 
cal with their crystal streams, nourishing and invigorat- 
ing orchards and vines by the side of the quartz-mill 
and the deserted camp of the departed miner. Mines 
of great richness were formerly worked in this county, 
but at present the gold yield is chiefly from quartz- 
ledges, many of which are worked with great profit. 

The climate of Amador is varied. In the high 
mountains snow falls to considerable depth, and during 
winter the weather is cold, but the snow is of short 
duration, and toward the western section of the county 
it is perpetual summer; true, the snow from the Sierras 
send down a thin fringe, but it is soon dissolved. Cattle, 
sheep, and horses graze at large during the whole year. 
The heat of summer is great in some places, but toward 
the Sierras the foliage, forests, and grass are green, and 
the air balmy and delightful. 

There are several towns in this county; the most 
prominent of which are Jackson, the county-seat, with 
a population of 2,411, Fiddletown, Drytown, lone, 
Sutter Creek, and Volcano. 

Alpine. — Directly east of Amador, and with the 
crest of the Sierras In its centre — one-half of the 
county being east of this range — is the county of Al- 




^ufijilk^WliaaWliii 





MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 513 

pine. It is bounded north and northwest by El Dorado, 
east by the State of Nevada, south by Tuolumne, and 
west by Calaveras, Amador, and a part of El Dorado. 
The surface of this country is very rugged, many peaks 
of the Sierras standing more than ten thousand feet 
above the sea. A great portion of the county is 
densely timbered with forests of great beauty and 
value. Several rapid streams course down the moun- 
tain sides, affording abundant motive power. Through- 
out the county there are many small valleys of great 
fertility, and the various branches of agriculture and 
grazing are carried on to considerable extent. Mines 
of gold, silver, copper, and other minerals are found, 
and quartz-mining is carried on very profitably. As a 
grazing country it is excellent. Cattle and sheep graze 
at larofe throughout the whole winter, and during- sum- 
mer, when the lower counties are parched, the native: 
grasses and herbage are green, and the climate charm- 
ing, being neither too hot nor too cool. Winter is cold, 
stormy, and boisterous, snow falling to a great depth 
upon the high mountains, but frost is not so intense as 
in portions of the State of Virginia, and the real cold 
weather is but of short duration. 

The area of Alpine is 850 square miles, and its popu- 
lation but 685; of whom 485 are native Americans and 
200 are of foreign birth. The hardier varieties of fruit 
all grow well, but the semi-tropical fruits, so abundantly 
produced in many of the counties of the State, do not 
grow here. Monitor, Markleeville, and Silver Moun- 
tain, the county-seat, are the principal towns. 

El Dorado. — Extending from the Sacramento valley 

to the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a dis- 
ss 



^14 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

tance of 85 miles, embracing- an area of 1,872 square 
miles, and containing a portion of Lake Tahoe upon 
the crest of the Sierras, and with a population of 
10,309, consisting of 6,287 Americans and 4,022 for- 
eigners, is the county of El Dorado, celebrated in his- 
tory as the seat of the first discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia by Marshall in 1848. This county is in the 
heart of the great mining region of California. In this 
county, and upon either side of it, are situated the river- 
beds, gulches, and quartz mines from which so many 
millions of gold have been extracted. El Dorado pos- 
sesses a variety of soil, scenery, climate, and resources. 
In the mountain section lofty spurs and crags of the 
Sierras lift their bald heads, and snow and frost repre- 
sent winter; but even in the coldest portions of the 
Sierras winter is short and mild, as compared with 
many parts of the Atlantic coast. In the mountain 
section of the county forests of great beauty and value 
exist, and dashing streams, passing furiously through 
deep canons and ravmes, lend a charming aspect to the 
country. In the western portion snow never falls, and 
here it may be called perpetual summer. The snow 
line from the Sierras struggles hard to extend its fleecy 
fringe into the valley, but the warm winds and rains 
dissolve it before it descends far down the foot-hills. 
Cattle and sheep graze at large throughout the whole 
year, except for a short period in winter in a portion of 
the Sierras. Throughout the valleys there are wide 
pasture-ranges, and the Sierras in summer are green 
with native grasses and herbs, affording the best pas- 
ture-ranges in the State. 

Agriculture is fast developing the great resources of 
this section, and a wealth more permanent than gold or 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. * 515 

silver is to be seen in the waving corn-fields, blooming 
orchards, and vineyards now so successfully cultivated 
upon the abandoned fields of the pioneer gold-hunter. 
El Dorado is second only to the county of Nevada in 
quartz-mining in the State, and is sixth in the counties 
of the State in the growth of the grape. Coloma, sit- 
uated thirty-five miles northeast from the city of Sacra- 
mento, and the place where Marshall, in 1848, discov- 
ered gold, and in the vicinity of which, for so many 
years, were enacted the wild scenes of early California 
life, is surrounded with blooming orchards and clustering 
vines. Fruit-growing is conducted successfully in this 
county, and almost every variety grows well. In the 
western parts of the county the mulberry grows to per- 
fection, and the lemon, olive, fig, and orange are culti- 
vated ; but these latter do not grow so well as they do 
in the southern section of the State. 

There are a number of towns in this county : Placer- 
ville, the county-seat, with a population of 1,562, Colo- 
ma, Georgetown, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, and 
3hingle Springs are the principal ones. Many of the 
early mining towns in this county are abandoned, and 
substantial buildings, costing from <^5,ooo to ^20,000 in 
their erection in early days, are inhabited only by cattle 
and hogs; but the corn-field, the vine, and the fig tree 
march steadily toward and overshadow their ruins. 

Placer. — North of El Dorado, and extending in a 
range of eighty miles in length from the crest of the 
Sierras to within eight miles of the Sacramento, having 
an average width of eighteen miles and an area of 1,386 
square miles, and a population of 11,357, rnade up of 
6,167 Americans and 5,199 foreigners, is the county of 



^l6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Placer, famous for its rich mines of gold, and partaking- 
of the general features of all the counties in this moun- 
tain range. A portion of the eastern end of the county- 
is occupied by the beautiful Lake Tahoe, and the dash- 
ing Truckee river passes through a portion of it. 
Jagged mountain peaks, deep gulches, canons, and 
dense forests occupy a great portion of the eastern end 
of the county, and snow falls to considerable depth. 
Toward the Sacramento are a succession of rolling hills 
and rich valleys, and the climate in this section is summer 
perpetually. Here nearly every branch of agriculture 
is successfully prosecuted. The grape and nearly all 
the semi-tropical fruits, including the lemon, fig, and 
orange, grow. Summer in the mountain ranges is 
charming, and the green herbage and native grasses 
afford wide pasture-ranges. In portions of the western 
side of the county the heat of summer is great, but 
never oppressive. Cattle and sheep graze at large 
during the whole year, and altogether the climate is 
delightful. The great overland railroad passes through 
this county a distance of ninety miles. 

Placer is bounded north by Nevada, east by the State 
of Nevada, south by El Dorado and Sacramento, and 
west and northwest by Sutter, Yuba, and Nevada. 

The chief resources of the county are mining, agri- 
culture, lumber, and dairying. It is surpassed only by- 
two counties in the State in the growing of peaches, and 
is the fourth county in the State in the production of 
wine. Auburn, the county-seat, and Colfax, Cisco, Dutch 
Flat, Iowa Hill, and Forest Hill, are the principal towns. 

Nevada. — Directly north of Placer, and extending in 
a direct line from the State line of Nevada on the east 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 517 

to within seventeen miles of the Feather river, at 
Marysville, a distance of about seventy miles, and hav- 
ing an average width of fifteen miles, and an area of 
1,026 square miles, is the county of Nevada, celebrated 
in the history of California as the greatest gold-pro- 
ducing county in the State. Placer and bank mines of 
ofreat richness have lone been worked in this section; 
but the quartz mines of the county seem inexhaustible, 
and still yield beyond comparison with any gold region 
in the world. The surface of the country is mountain- 
ous in the extreme in the region of the Sierras ; here, 
too, vast forests of great beauty and value are found, 
and dashing streams and beautiful lakes lend a charm 
to the delightful scenery of this section. The Truckee 
river, pouring its flood from Lake Tahoe, passes 
through the eastern extremity of the county. In this 
quarter snow falls to considerable depth in winter, and 
for a brief period frost is severe ; but summer is de- 
lightful, and the native grasses upon the s' de-hills and 
valleys of the Sierras afford wide and excellent pasture- 
ranges. In the western end of the county, toward the 
Sacramento river, the surface is a series of rolling hills 
and small valleys. Winter never reaches this section, 
and here cattle and sheep graze at large throughout the 
whole year, and fruits of almost every variety, including 
many of the semi-tropical, grow. The grape, fig, and 
orange are cultivated, and gardening and dair^ang are 
carried on to considerable extent. Like the great inte- 
rior of California, this section has a long, dry, and hot 
summer; but the cool nights keep it from being op- 
pressive, and altogether the climate is delightful. 

Taken altogether — the inexhaustible o-old-mines, the 
vast forests, and diversified agriculture of Nevada — it is 



51 8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

one of the most prosperous counties in the State. The 
great overland railroad in its course passes for a dis- 
tance of thirteen miles through the eastern end of the 
county over the crest of the Sierras ; and other roads 
building will add greatly to the development of this 
section. 

Nevada county is bounded north by Yuba and Si- 
erra counties, east by the State of Nevada, south by 
Placer, and west by Yuba. The population is 19,134; 
of whom 10,479 ^^^ native American and 8,655 ^^^ ^^ 
foreign birth. There are several growing and prosper- 
ous towns in the county. Nevada City is the county- 
seat, and is a place of considerable population and im- 
portance. Grass valley, in the heart of the richest 
mining region in the world, is an incorporated city, with 
a population of 7,066. Little York, French Corral, and 
North San Juan are towns of some importance, all sur- 
rounded by rich mining districts. 

Sierra. — Adjoining Nevada county on the nortl;, 
and perched high in the Sierras, bounded north by Plu- 
mas and Lassen, east by the State of Nevada, south by 
Nevada county, and west by Yuba and Plumas, and 
embracing an area of 830 square miles, and with a 
population of 5,619, of whom 2,816 are of native 
American and 2,803 are of foreign birth, is the county 
of Sierra. 

The surface of t;he county is a succession of abrupt 
mountains and jagged peaks, some of which stand 
almost nine thousand feet above the sea. Numerous 
deep canons and gulches, with dashing streams and deep 
forests, lend a wild but picturesque aspect to the coun- 
try. Small valleys of great beauty and fertility are 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 



519 



found, and grazing, dairying, lumbering, fruit-growing, 
farming, and mining are all carried on successfully. 

Great quantities of gold have been extracted from 
the gravel beds and rich quartz veins of this county, 
and fortunes have been suddenly realized from rich 
deposits of gold. Sierra is still only second to Nevada 
county in her yield of gold, and mines of permanent 
value are being worked with great profit, and new and 
rich discoveries made almost daily. 

Snow falls to considerable depth throughout the 
eastern end of the county in winter, and frost is felt 
sometimes to a great extent; but toward the western part 
of the county but little snow falls, and cattle and sheep 
graze in the valleys throughout die entire year. Almost 
every variety of the hardier fruits grow well, and even 
the fig and orange have been grown , but none of the 
semi-tropical fruits do well. 

There are no towns of magnitude in Sierra county. 
The principal ones are Downieville, the county-seat, 
Forest City, Brandy City, Rowland Flat, and Goodyear's 
Bar. 

Plumas. — North of Sierra county, and with its whole 
area in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and at an eleva- 
tion of from 4,000 to 7,000 feet above the level of the 
sea, is the county of Plumas: bounded north and east by 
Lassen, south by Sierra, and west by Butte and Te- 
hama. The area of this alpine county is 2,736 square 
miles — equal to two States of the size of Rhode Island 
and 1 24 square miles to spare. Plumas has a popula- 
tion of 4,490, divided between 2,414 native Ameri- 
cans and 2,075 foreigners, and several growing towns. 
Quincy, the county-seat, has a population of 640. La 



520 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Porte, Granville, Meadow Valley, and Taylorsville are 
all prosperous towns. 

The surface of the country is a succession of high 
mountains, rolling hills, deep canons, dashing streams, 
and large, fertile, and beautiful valleys of unsurpassed 
agricultural and grazing capacity. Vast areas of this 
county are covered with dense forests of valuable tim- 
ber, and placer and quartz mines of great richness are 
worked with profit. Snow falls upon the high moun- 
tain peaks to considerable depth in winter; but frost is 
not so intense as in portions of the States of Virginia 
and Tennessee, and in the valleys and ravines cattle, 
horses, and sheep pasture throughout the whole year. 
Summer in this county is unlike summer in the valley 
counties. In Plumas, although the heat of summer is 
considerable, yet the native grasses and rich herbage 
of the beautiful valleys and of the hill-sides are fresh 
and green, and the eye can linger with increasing 
admiration upon rich meadows, fields of corn, deep 
forests, blooming orchards, lofty mountains, and laughing 
streams, frolicking through precipitate gulches and turn- 
ing the busy wheels of the quartz-mill. Big Meadow 
valley, fifteen miles in length and four miles in breadth. 
Mountain Meadows, of nearly equal size, Indian valley, 
eleven miles in length by two in width, American val- 
ley, eleven miles in length by four miles in width, are 
jnsurpassed in beauty and fertility in California; here 
various branches of farming are prosecuted most suc- 
:essfully. Nearly all the hardier fruits^ — apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, cherries, and the grape — do well. Agri- 
culture, dairying, fruit-growing, lumbering, and mining 
are the resources of the county. 



MOUNTAIN COUNTIES. 521 

Few counties in California possess greater natural 
resources than Plumas, and its future prosperity is in- 
sured by its rich agricultural and grazing lands. 

Lassen. — Directly north of Plumas, situated in the 
broken spurs of the Sierras, and east of the main chain 
of these mountains, and ^ with a length from north to 
south along the line of the State of Nevada of more 
than loo miles, and containing an area of 4,932 square 
miles — 182 square miles more than the State of Con- 
necticut — is Lassen county: bounded north by Siskiyou, 
east by the State of Nevada, south by Sierra and 
Plumas, and west by Plumas and Shasta. 

The county lies almost entirely east of the Sierra 
Nevada mountains. The general character of this sec- 
tion is essentially different from the counties west of 
that range. The rolling hills are covered with dense 
forests of pine and other trees. Alkaline plains and 
sage brush, broad lakes, fertile valleys, and high moun- 
tain peaks make up the physical features of the 
country. 

In winter snow falls to considerable depth, but frost 
is never severe, and in the valleys and ravines cattle, 
sheep, and horses graze throughout the whole year. 
Summer is dry and warm, but not uncomfortably hot. 
A great portion of the surface is covered with rich 
native grasses, green throughout the greater part of the 
year, affording wide and excellent pasture-ranges. Ag- 
riculture, grazing, and lumber are the resources of this 
county. In the valleys grain, vegetables, and the har- 
dier fruits all grow well, and dairying and lumbering are 
successfully prosecuted. As yet but little has been 



522 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

done In mining-, although mines of considerable impor- 
tance have been discovered. 

The population of Lassen county is 1,327; consisting 
of 1,178 native Americans and 149 foreigners. Susan- 
ville, the county-seat, has a population of 640. The 
other towns are all small. 

Siskiyou county, lying directly north of Lassen 
county, and extending to the Oregon line, and already 
described, is the last or most northern one of the tier 
of mountain counties, following the range of the Sierra 
Nevada mountains, and forming the great gold-pro- 
ducing region of California. 






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THE PACIFIC COAST, 523 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Pacific coast — Oregon — Nevada — Utah — Arizona — Idaho — Wash- 
ington Territory — British Columbia and Alaska. 

The vast region lying west of the Rocky mountains, 
designated the Pacific coast, in which is embraced Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, a part 
of Montana, Washington Territory, British Columbia, 
and Alaska, contains an area equal to one-half of the 
whole territory of the Republic of America. The three 
States and five Territories in this division belonorinor to 
the United States contain an area of 1,259,234 square 
miles, and British Columbia is estimated at 300,000 
square miles in extent. 

Until a recent period this wide domain, with its genial 
climate, vast forests, great mountains, magnificent rivers 
and harbors, broad and fertile valleys, and great min- 
eral wealth, was comparatively unknown, even to the 
people of America; and although new States have 
sprung up, cities been bailt, rivers navigated, and moun- 
tains pierced, and the track of the iron horse is found 
on mountain side and valley, and the seat of new, vig- 
orous, and happy communities find permanent lodgment 
in the rich soil of the new civilization of the Far West, 
yet but little is known of the country, even in the 
States east of the Rocky mountains, and thousands of 
well-informed persons in Europe and America have 
never heard of the divisions of this section, nor know 
their location nor their names. 

In preceding chapters, that portion of the Pacific 
coast more generally known abroad on account of the 



524 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

great mineral wealth, agricultural productions, and 
matchless natural beauties developed and brought to 
light since the discovery of gold in 1848, has been pre- 
sented to the reader ; and now the following chapters 
will be devoted to briefly setting forth the physical feat- 
ures, climate, and vast resources and wonders of that 
wide area extending from the scorching sands of the 
Colorado to the stern heights of Oregon and the grim, 
ice-bound shores of northern Alaska. 

The area embraced within the succeeding chapters 
is entirely distinct in climate, soil, productions, animals, 
fish, and birds, from any section of the United States 
east of the Rocky mountains ; and, together with Cali- 
fornia, contain more of the precious metals than all the 
world besides so far as yet discovered, and its still un- 
explored and unoccupied regions afford the last remain- 
ing refuge for that large element of wanderers and 
adventurers always pushing ahead of civilization, seek- 
ing new discoveries, new homes, and new acquaintances 
beyond the sound of church-bell and the echo of the 
steam-whistle. The range for this class is still wide: 
the red man and the mountain deer have still uncertain 
tenure of the soil, and the stately elk and grim bear 
look out from their forest homes, tempting sport for the 
unerring rifle of the frontiersman ; and when the vast 
regions from the Colorado to Behring Strait cease to 
afford attractions to the pioneer, man's condition will 
be so changed that the new civilization built upon the 
lonely wastes will afford him solace ; or other planets 
will be discovered in which the primitive forests and 
howling deserts will afford him an asylum. 

The marked physical features of that portion of 
America lying west of the Rocky mountains, so well 



THE PACIFIC COAST. 525 

defined by its volcanic origin and great mineral wealth, 
as well as by its genial climate and rich soil, give it a 
distinct character from all that section of the country 
east of the great mountain division of the continent. 

Coal, iron, lead, copper, and petroleum in great 
abundance, and gold and silver in limited quantities, 
have been found east of the Rocky mountain chain ; 
but the precious metals of the continent lie west of this 
division, and are found in and about the Sierra Nevada 
mountains — the great mother lead of the gold and 
silver of the American continent. 

Brazil, Ghili, Peru, and the whole region of South 
and Central America, rich in gold and silver, and the 
Republic of Mexico, so famed for its mineral wealth* 
all go to the Sierra range for their metallic treasures. 
California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, 
Idaho, Montana, Washington Territory, and British 
Columbia — some on the east and some on the west of 
this range of mountains — all derive their gold and 
silver from the main chain, or from the arms and lat- 
erals of the Sierras, which, although passing under dif- 
ferent names in different sections, is but the same grand 
mineral chain, entering the continent at Patagonia, 
passes northward through the whole of South and 
Central America, Mexico, California, Oregon, British 
Columbia, and Alaska, until, in the distant west, it dips 
into the sea on the frozen shores of the Arctic ocean. 

The early history, acquisition, and settlement of the 
several sections of country des^cribed in the following 
chapters will be found fully set forth in preceding por- 
tions of this volume, so that what follows more imme- 
diately relates to the natural resources, development, 
and material growth of the country. 



526 THE GOLDEN STATE, 

OREGON. 

History— Geography— Climate — Seasons — Forests — Minerals — Min- 
ing — Agriculture — Rivers — Mountains — Resources — Progress — 
Area — Population — Cities — Society. 

Oregon, as originally organized, embraced, besides 
the area of the present State, the area now contained 
within the Territories of Idaho and Washington; and 
of the entire domain of the American republic, Oregon, 
as originally organized, was the only portion acquired 
by original discovery. 

The thirteen original colonic^ were taken from Great 
Britain by conquest; besides, Virginia claimed, under 
her original charter from England, an undefined tract, 
covering what was known as the "Northwestern Terri- 
tory," embracing the area of the present States of Ohio, 
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This claim 
Virginia granted to the federal government in 1787, 
and it became a part of the aggregate territory of the 
republic. The whole territory of the United States 
east of the Mississippi river, except the State of Florida 
and a part of the State of Mississippi, was acquired by 
the United States with the thirteen original colonies. 
As compensation for spoliations upon American com- 
merce by Spain, the Spanish crown ceded to the United 
States, in 18 19, the territory embraced in the State of 
Florida and the southern section of the State of Mis- 
sissippi. The purchase of Louisiana by the American 
government from the French, in 1803, placed the 
Americans in the possession of the vast region lying 
west of the Mississippi, and extending its boundaries 
to the Rocky mountains in the west, the British posses- 
sions in the north, and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. 



OREGON: 527 

Texas was acquired by annexation in 1845, and New 
Mexico and Colorado by conquest and treaty with 
Mexico after the war of 1846-8; and Alaska was ac- 
quired by purchase from Russia in 1867. 

Oregon, discovered by Captain Gray, of Boston, in 
1792, was explored by authority of the United States, 
by Lewis and Clark, in 1804-5. In 1808, the Missouri 
Fur Company established a post on the head waters of 
the Snake or Lewis river; and, in 181 1, John Jacob 
Astor, of New York, founded the Pacific Fur Company, 
at Astoria, near the mouth of the river Columbia. This 
was the beginning of settlement in the country. At a 
more remote period, the Hudson Bay Fur Company, 
an English incorporation, was established in Oregon. 
This latter company, by its factors and employes, held 
almost despotic sway over the native tribes and white 
settlers until 1850. 

As early as 1830, emigrants were making their way 
over the Rocky mountains and into Oregon. The lib- 
eral inducement of six hundred and forty acres of land 
free to every head of a family and three hundred and 
twenty acres to each person twenty-one years of age 
emigrating to the Territory, offered by Congress, had, 
up to 1849, attracted considerable emigration; so that 
when the gold-fields of California, in 1849, attracted 
their thousands of miners, Oregon was prepared to 
supply flour, lumber, butter, eggs, cheese, and fruit to 
the gold-hunter who roamed over the then unfilled 
valleys of California. 

In 1843, Oregon was organized as a Territory, and 
on the 1 2th of February, 1859, was admitted a State 
into the Union. The State is bounded on the south 
by the northern line of California and a part of the 



528 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

State of Nevada, east by Idaho, north by the River 
Columbia, and west by the Pacific ocean. The south- 
ern line of Oregon, where it joins the State of Califor- 
nia, is in the forty-second parallel of north latitude, and 
the northern line, at the mouth of the Columbia river, 
is in 46° 20' of north latitude. 

The area of Oregon is 95,274 square miles — about 
61,000,000 acres; and the population, in 1870, was 
90,776, of whom 86,929 were white, 346 colored, 3,330 
Chinese; and 79,323 were of native American birth and 
11,600 of foreign birth. 

The physical features of Oregon are rugged hills 
covered with fir and oak trees; lofty mountains clad in 
perpetual snow; vast and dense forests of fir and 
cedar; rolling hills of deep rich soil; extensive valleys 
of perpetual verdure and unsurpassed productiveness; 
numerous lakes, springs, and streams; majestic rivers, 
whose cascades, combined with a rich forest scenery, 
make Oregon one of the most picturesque quarters 
of the republic. 

The climate of Oregon is mild. Winter, which com- 
mences in December, casts its mantle of snow upon 
the elevated hills, and burnishes anew the high moun- 
tain peaks where summer heats are unknown. 

Throughout the forest and valley districts snow and 
ice are rarely seen; and, in the Wallamet and other 
principal agricultural valleys, it is perpetual summer. 
Once perhaps during each winter a few inches of snow 
will fall, but in most of cases it is swept away either by 
rain or the heat of the sun in one or two days; some- 
times it may linger for a week, but this is rare. Ice of 
a few inches in thickness is formed duringf each winter 
in some places, but it remains only for a few days; and, 



OREGON. 529 

in the agricultural and grazing districts, sheep, horses, 
and cattle run at large and forage during the whole 
season. But there are periods in severe winters when 
snow and cold rains are disastrous to gtock, and when 
the kindly hand of the farmer is necessary to supply 
them with food; but generally grass is green through- 
out the whole year, and all stock live at large in the 
open air. 

At Astoria, and along the whole Coast Range, rain 
falls in great abundance during the winter and spring; 
but in the interior, and particularly in the eastern por- 
tion of the State, the rainfall is not half so great as 
upon the Coast Range, and the winters, generally rainy, 
are warm and pleasant. 

Fields of growing grain covering the ground may 
be seen in the months of January and February, and 
vegetables grow throughout the whole year. In Ore- 
gon, as in California, it is not easy to draw the lines 
dividing the seasons. Winter is known only by the 
presence of a greater amount of rain and a little colder 
weather ; summer is mild, with showers of rain, blended 
well into the late spring season and early summer, and 
the excessive heats of the Atlantic States are unknown. 

The hottest days are not oppressive, owing to the 
coolness of the nights. Once in a great while the heat 
of summer will reach one hundred and ten degrees in 
the shade ; but, owing to the cool nights, the heat does 
not reach its greatest extent until early in the afternoon, 
lasting only three or four hours during the day. 

Oregon is as far north as the northern boundary of 

the State of Maine, but the degrees of cold in each are 

very different. In many parts of Oregon winter never 

reaches the freezing-point; while in Maine for six 
.34 



530 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

months it is perpetual winter, where frost and piercing 
winds carry terror before them. 

The cHmate of Oregon is milder than the climate of 
either Virginia, Kentucky, or Tennessee; and at Astoria, 
the mouth of the Columbia river, the average tempera- 
ture is little different from that of San Francisco ; the 
annual temperature being in summer fifty-two and in 
winter forty-two degrees above zero. 

The wide agricultural and grazing ranges of Oregon 
are well supplied with copious streams from the moun- 
tain sides; and the water-power of the State, which 
might easily be employed in turning the wheels of me- 
chanical industry, is not surpassed in the United States. 
The Falls of the Wallamet, at Oregon City, are of 
great volume and force ; and the majestic Columbia, 
having its source in the western slope of the Rocky 
mountains, far in the interior of British Columbia, 
where it is fed by the eternal snows of that region, 
coursino- throuoh British Columbia, Washino-ton Ter- 
ritory, and for more than three hundred miles forming 
the northern boundary of Oregon, with its cascades and 
numerous falls, affords unlimited motive-power. The 
River Columbia, forming the boundary between Ore- 
gon and Washington Territory, may be classed among 
the most important navigable rivers of the world, and 
is surpassed in extent only by one river on the whole 
Pacific coast of America — the majestic Yukon, of 
Alaska, flowing for more than two thousand miles 
toward the sea. 

At the historic town of Astoria, in Oregon, where 
the Columbia empties into the Pacific ocean, it is a 
broad and noble stream; and for one hundred and sixty 
miles — to the Cascades — affords a navigable course for 




HORSE-TAIL FALL, COLUMBIA RIVER. 




VIEW ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 



OREGON. 531 

ships and large ocean-steamers. At this point a rail- 
road of six miles in length, on the Washington Terri- 
tory side, and which was completed on the 21st of 
April, 1863, and a road, a distance of thirteen miles, 
built in 1864, at the Dalles, lead to the waters above; 
where, for a distance of more than four hundred ad- 
ditional miles, the Columbia is navigated by steamers 
and sailing vessels ; Lewiston, on the Snake river, in 
Idaho, being the head of navigation upon its southern 
branch. But continuing the course of the main Colum- 
bia still beyond Wallula and the large lakes through 
which it passes through British America, it is navigable 
for light draught boats for one thousand miles from the 
ocean, the only obstacle being the cascades and the 
wide bar lying outside the mouth of the river, where 
the channel is shifting, the water shallow, and generally 
a heavy, rolling sea, rendering navigation perilous. 

The next river of magnitude in Oregon is the Wal- 
lamet, having its source in the eastern side of the Cas- 
cade range of mountains, and running from east to west 
a distance of about one hundred and seventy-five miles, 
passing through the centre of the extensive and ferdle 
valley of the Wallamet, forming the falls at Oregon 
City, and emptying itself into the Columbia twelve 
miles below the city of Portland, the chief city of Ore- 
gon, and the head of navigation for ocean vessels on 
the Wallamet. 

From the mouth of the Wallamet, twelve miles below 
Portland, to the latter city, ocean steamers run regu- 
larly; and from that city to the Oregon City falls, a dis- 
tance of twelve miles above Portland, steamers of light 
draught have navigated for the last twenty years, and 
above the falls, for the whole length of the Wallamet, 



532 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

small steamers run; and for more than twenty-five 
years the waters of the Wallamet and Columbia have 
been the only highway and outlet of all the business 
and commerce of Oregon. 

Lines of railroads now in operation and building 
throughout Oregon will connect that State with Cali- 
fornia on the south, Puget sound on the northwest, and, 
joining the great overland road, will place the hereto- 
fore isolated State of Oregon in direct railroad com- 
munication with all parts of the Pacific coast, and open 
up a market for her rich products in all parts of the 
Atlantic States, the Pacific coast, and Asia. 

In the northeastern portion of the State are several 
rivers of magnitude — the Des Chutes, John Days, Uma- 
tilla, Lewis or Snake river, being the principal ones. 

The sea-coast of Oregon from its northern extremity 
to the California boundary is almost a straight line from 
north to south, without any prominent capes or head- 
lands. Numerous inlets and harbors indent the coast; 
but there is no river of any great magnitude south of 
the Columbia. 

The Rogue, Umpqua, Coquett, and Yaquina are the 
chief rivers on the coast line. They are all navigable 
for a short distance for steamers of light draught, 
and settlement is fast making in the rich valleys by 
which they are surrounded. Oregon is celebrated for 
its scenery — stalwart mountains, dashing streams, and 
lofty forest trees. Mounts Jefferson and McLaughlin lift 
their venerable heads ten thousand feet above the sea, 
and they, with many others whose summits are per- 
petual snow, standing above the dense fir forests and 
green fields of summer, present a panorama of unsur- 
passed beauty; but towering above all, and looking 



OREGON. 



533 



down upon the beautiful valley of the Wallamet, with 
its meandering streams, tall forests, cultivated fields, 
blooming orchards, vast herds and flocks, active indus- 
try, and happy homes, is Mount Hood, nature's grand- 
est monument in the wilderness, lifting its head 11,218 
feet above the sea level, and teaching the lesson of 
ages to the beholder. This sentinel of eternity, wrapped 
in his fleecy robes of ermine, looks from his throne of 
clouds upon the busy scenes of men, and out upon the 
crested main of the ocean, whose cooling breezes have 
fanned his silvery locks from the period of creation. 

What the temple of Mecca is to the good Mohamme- 
dan Mount Hood is to the Oregonian. In the still 
night, when, by the light of a solitary star, he followed 
the lazy ox- team, or fled before the murderous toma- 
hawk of the red men, this monumental pile was his 
beacon and his guide; and now, when the fingers of 
time have wrought his locks with silver threads, and 
his step grows feeble, the venerable pioneer, leaning 
upon his staff, points to this hoary king of the West, 
and, with trembling accents, and a reverence akin to 
idolatry, tells to his children's children the eventful 
story of his early life — his pilgrimage across the plains, 
his struggles and adventures in the forests of distant 
Oregon. 

There are three principal mountain chains in Oregon 
— the Cascade, Blue mountains, and the Coast Range ; 
the latter running from the California line to Astoria, 
and in many places leaving broad valleys lying 
between it and the ocean. This mountain chain is 
rugged, and great portions of it are covered with dense 
forests of fir and other trees. Innumerable streams 
course down both sides of this mountain range. Owing. 



534 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



to the good supply of water, abundance of grass, and the 
fogs and damps of summer from the ocean, the whole 
western slope of the Coast Range, with the belt of 
valleys between it and the Pacific, affords the best pas- 
ture region on the whole coast. Throughout the south- 
ern portion of this mountain chain rich mines of gold, 
silver, copper, and other minerals have been discovered, 
and are being worked with profit. A hundred miles 
inland from the Coast Range, and running parallel with 
it from north to south for the whole length of the State, 
is the Cascade rafige of mountains, a continuation of 
the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. In this 
chain there are many lofty mountains, including Mounts 
Jefferson and Hood, the latter being the northern ter- 
minus of the chain, and located twenty miles directly 
south of the Columbia river at the Cascades. It is 
between these two chains of mountains that the beau- 
tiful and fertile valley of the Wallamet is situated, in 
which the great agricultural wealth of Oregon is found. 
In the Cascade range, as in the Coast Range, rich de- 
posits of the precious and other metals are found, and 
many mines are being worked with good results. 

One hundred and fifty miles east of the Cascade 
mountains is another mountain chain, running parallel 
with the Cascades and forming the third grand moun- 
tain range of Oregon. This latter chain, known as the 
Blue i7ioiintams, although one hundred and fifty miles 
from the Cascade or Sierra range, is but a portion of 
the great Sierra chain, flung one hundred and fifty 
miles farther eastward ; and, like the Sierras, it throws 
its deposits of gold, silver, and other metals far upon 
either side, and holds in its granite vaults untold mil- 
lions of the precious metals. Mines of great richness 



OREGON. 



535 



are being worked in this section, and the yield of the 
precious metals is steadily on the increase in Oregon: 
three million dollars of gold and silver being now pro- 
duced annually. 

The vast area of Oregon lying east of the Cascade 
mountains, embracing more than two-thirds of the area 
of the State, and known as Eastern Oregon, differs in 
its physical features and climate materially from the 
western portion of the State. The winters are compar- 
atively dry, and but a small amount of snow falls upon 
the mountains. Much of the country is covered by 
high table -lands, alkaline plains, sandy and volcanic 
deserts ; but there are innumerable rich valleys, well 
watered and of the best quality of agricultural lands 
and wide pasture - ranges, abundantly supplied with 
native grasses, which make this section of the State 
valuable as a grazing region. Much of the mountains 
and rolling hills are covered with fir, pine, oak, and 
other timber, but generally of an inferior growth when 
compared with the same species west of the Cascade 
mountains. 

The southeastern part of Eastern Oregon has a great 
number of lakes, many of them of considerable size. 
Klamath lake, situated close to the Cascade mountains, 
and Lower Klamath lake form one continuous sheet of 
water of fifty miles in length. The southern part of 
the Lower Klamath is in California, and the remainder, 
including Klamath lake, in Oregon. The Klamath 
proper is thirty miles in length and fourteen miles in 
width. There are several other lakes of almost as 
great proportions as this and great numbers of smaller 
ones, some of which are filled with fish, and some so 
impregnated with alkaline that no living thing is found 



^^S THE GOLDEN STATE. 

in their waters. Many of these lakes are the home of 
milHons of wild fowl — geese, ducks, and crane. 

Throughout the northern portion of Eastern Oregon, 
the Des Chutes, John Day, Umatilla, and Snake rivers 
supply an abundance of pure water, and salmon and 
trout are found in great numbers, 

Oregon is famous for its wild game. Elk, deer, ante- 
lope, bear, geese, ducks, swan, quail, grouse, and crane 
are plenty ; and the Columbia and all the principal 
streams abound in salmon and other fish ; and the fur- 
bearing animals — the beaver, otter, and mink — are still 
plenty : but the posts established by the American, 
Hudson Bay, and other fur companies have all been 
abandoned, and the fur trade of the State is smaller and 
conducted only by private individuals. 

Wild berries in great abundance and variety grow in 
Oregon ; and salt springs and other mineral waters are 
found. Mines of coal and iron are worked successfully ; 
and copper, lead, marble, and limestone are found in 
many sections of the State, and of superior quality. 

The forests of Oregon are unsurpassed in the world. 
Vast districts of country of rolling hills, mountains, and 
level lands are covered with forests of fir, tall and erect, 
without a limb, save a bunch upon the top. These 
forest trees generally stand about two hundred feet in 
height, and running from four to ten feet in diameter; 
but many of the trees grow to three hundred feet and 
more in height, and attain a diameter of from eight to 
twelve feet. A large timber-trade is carried on in Ore- 
gon with California and other parts of the Pacific coast ; 
and the supply that could be furnished by her forests is 
beyond calculation. Fir is the great staple timber of the 
country. Cedar, oak, ash, pine, and some other varie- 



OREGON. 537 

ties grow in considerable quantity ; but, like California 
and all the Pacific coast territory, Oregon does not pro- 
duce the fine white and yellow pine, nor the maple, 
birch, and beech of the Eastern States and Canada. 
In fact not a tree of these beautiful varieties of timber 
is to be found upon the whole Pacific coast ; still there 
are many varieties useful in ship and house building, 
and very beautiful for furniture and ornamental work. 

Agriculture is the chief industry of the people of 
Oregon. The mild winters, genial climate, rich soil, 
and summer showers always insure good crops. There 
never yet has been a failure of the wheat or other grain 
crop of the State ; and the average product per acre in 
wheat, oats, rye, and barley is a third greater than any 
of the States east of the Rocky mountains. Oregon and 
California averagfe nineteen bushels each of wheat to the 
acre, while Virginia produces but nine bushels. South 
Carolina but seven, and Tennessee but eight and 
a-quarter. Wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, corn, flax, 
hemp, tobacco, hops, vegetables of all kinds, apples, 
pears, plums, cherries, and berries of almost every 
variety grow most abundantly : grapes, peaches, and 
some other varieties of fruits do not grow so well as 
they do in California, but in many localities grapes do 
well. 

The great staple product of Oregon is wheat. It was 
from the rich valleys of Oregon that the California 
miner in early days received his supply of bread, and to 
the present time, notwithstanding California exports 
largely of wheat and flour, Oregon flour is sold in the 
California markets. At Portland, and other towns in 
Oregon, ships load with wheat and flour for the markets 
of Europe, Asia, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific; 



538 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and agencies for the sale of Oregon flour are established 
in San Francisco. 

Apples in great quantities are shipped from Oregon 
to California and to all ports along the coast, and to 
British Columbia. The rapid growth of fruit trees in 
this State is remarkable : ten and twelve feet are often 
produced in a year, and so abundantly do trees bear at 
three and four years old that they are often crushed 
with the weight of the fruit. 

Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry all thrive well 
in Oregon, and produce their species at a much earlier 
period than do their kind in any part of the Atlantic 
side of the republic. There are in the State 75,000 
horses, 4,500 mules, 102,000 cattle, 62,500 milch cows, 
150,000 hogs, and 420,000 sheep; there are also 160 
miles of railroad, and several roads in course of con- 
struction. 

The wide pasture -ranges, great variety 01 native 
grasses, and mild climate, make Oregon the finest 
grazing section of the country. In many portions of 
the State stock-raising is carried on to a great extent, 
and sheep-raising and wool-growing is receiving con- 
siderable attention; and besides supplying several local 
factories, large quantities of wool are shipped to Cali- 
fornia and to the Atlantic States. 

Many branches of manufacture are prosecuted in 
Oregon, and the whole business of the State has received 
a great stimulus from the railroads already constructed 
and now building in the Wallamet valley. Some idea 
of the amount of flour produced may be ascertained 
from the fact that there are eighty flouring mills in 
operation In the State, many of which produce one 
hundred and fifty barrels of flour daily ; and one, the 




MOUNT HOOD, OREGON, FROM THE DALLES. 




SCKNK ON THE COLUMIHA RIVER. 



OREGON. 



539 



largest In the State, located at Salem, grinds two hun- 
dred barrels per day. 

One hundred and seventy saw-mills are employed In 
making lumber, and fifteen quartz-mills are in opera- 
tion In the mines. A linseed-oil mill is in successfial 
operation at Salem. There are seven woollen factories 
In the State, one at each of the following places : Salem, 
Oregon City, Brownsville, Dalles, Ashland, Aurora, and 
Dallas. Numerous churches, schools, and colleges attest 
the progress and refinement of the people. There are 
twenty-eight newspapers published in Oregon, and eight 
libraries, (public and society,) with an aggregate of 
fourteen thousand volumes, which supply in part the 
reading matter of the people of the State. 

On the discovery of gold In California, numbers of 
the people of Oregon went to the mines, many of whom 
realized fortunes and returned to their new homes In 
the beautiful valley of the Wallamet. 

The mass of the people of Oregon, however, never 
having come in contact with nor been affected by the 
excitement Incident to gold -mining, have remained 
quiedy upon their farms and at their other employ- 
ments, and, as a consequence, have built themselves up 
quiet and peaceful homes free from the excitement^ 
extravagance, folly, and unrest Incident to early life in 
California. 

The pioneer of Oregon had to contend long and bit- 
terly with the relentless red man for the possession of 
the soil. A population of about thirty thousand sav- 
ages, consisting chiefly of the Walla Wallas, Shawnees^ 
Chinook, and Flathead tribes, struggled long and 
fiercely to maintain their ancient hunting-grounds ; but 
at last they gave way before inevitable fate, and the last 



540 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

representatives of the powerful tribes of distant Oregon 
are fading away before the axe and ploughshare of the 
invadinof white man. 

The State of Oregon is divided into twenty-two 
counties, with the capital at Salem, forty miles by a 
direct line south of Portland, and on the east bank of 
the Wallamet river. There are several thrivinof towns 
in the State. Portland, with a population of 8,293, of 
whom 5,715 are native Americans and 2,578 are of 
foreign birth, is the chief city of Oregon. It is at the 
head of ocean-steamer navigation, on the west side of the 
Wallamet, and is substantially built with many elegant 
houses. Railroads traversing the Wallamet valley and 
other parts of the State enter this city, whose pros- 
perity is evidenced by its nicely paved streets, elegant 
stores, hotels, banks, schools, churches, and colleges. 
Many branches of mechanical industry are prosecuted 
in this city, which is a port of entry of considerable 
commercial importance, and for its size is one of the 
most thrivinof and active cities in the United States. 

Altogether, the genial climate, natural resources, and 
large areas of good land yet attainable from the gov- 
ernment and from occupants at reasonable prices, 
make Oregon one of the most desirable quarters of the 
republic for the emigrant in search of a home. 

The new-comer will find, besides the great resources 
and inviting climate, well - ordered society, schools, 
churches, and colleges, active and progressive men and 
women, with big, generous hearts and willing hands, 
and the foundations of a great and prosperous State 
well established. 



NEVADA, 541 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

NEVADA. 

Acquisition of— Area — Population — Geography — Mountains — Val- 
leys — Lakes — Rivers — Forests — Soil — Seasons — Climate — Mines 
— Mining — Minerals — Counties — Cities — Progress — Schools — 
Newspapers — Libraries — Future prospects. 

Nevada, known as the Silver State on account of its 
extensive silver-mines, lies directly east of the State of 
California, from which it is separated in its division line 
by the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 
area now forming this State was originally a part of the 
Territory of California, and more recently of a portion 
of the district embraced within the Territory of Utah, 
and was acquired by the United States from the Repub- 
lic of Mexico, by the acquisition of California, in 1846. 
In 1 861, a territorial government was established by 
act of Congress, and, in 1864, it was admitted a State 
in the Union, with a very small population. 

The area of Nevada is 81,531 square miles, and its 
population, according to the federal census of 1870, 
was 42,491, of whom 38,959 were white, 357 colored, 
and 3,152 Chinese. Of the whole population, almost 
one-half were of foreign birth, there being 23,690 native 
born and 18,801 foreigners. 

Nevada is bounded on its extreme southeastern cor- 
ner by the river Colorado, which separates it from the 
Territory of Arizona. Utah forms the eastern line and 
Oreeon the northern. On the west, the crest of the 
Sierras forms the line between this State and the State 
of California. The beautiful Lake Tahoe, seven thou- 



C42 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

sand feet high, in the top of the Sierras, is partly in 
Nevada and partly in California; and in this region, as 
in many other parts of the State, the scenery is mag- 
nificent, abounding in rugged mountain peaks capped 
with snow, dense forests, and beautiful lakes. 

East of the Sierras the climate is entirely different 
from that of California, immediately west of them. The 
climate of Nevada is colder in winter and generally 
with less rainfall than the former. Snow covers all the 
high mountain ranges and hills, and even for a brief 
period reaches the valleys; but generally throughout 
the rolling hills, pasture ranges, and agricultural sec- 
tions snow falls but little, and cattle and horses graze 
at large throughout the entire winter, and in many of 
the valleys snow is never seen. The climate of the 
State is much milder than that of either of the States of 
Virginia or Tennessee. The surface of the country is 
a succession of rugged mountains, broad alkaline flats, 
rolling, gravelly ridges, and sandy deserts, interspersed 
with small fertile valleys, rich river bottoms, and ravines. 

From the mountain ridges pourdown dashing streams, 
soon, however, lost in the flats below, where they bury 
themselves in the earth, thus leaving many rich valleys ' 
entirely destitute of running streams, and lending an 
aspect of desolation and barrenness to large areas of 
productive land. In this State is presented the singu- 
lar phenomenon of the creeks and rivers pouring into 
caverns in the earth, running many miles under ground, 
and rising to the surface again; but only to again dip 
into the ground, where their course is lost sight of for- 
ever. 

The principal rivers of Nevada are the Humboldt, 
Truckee, Carson, and Walker. Humboldt river after 



NE VADA. 



543 



passing for three hundred and fifty miles from east to 
west, empties into Lake Humboldt, in a deep valley in 
the western portion of the State. Carson and Walker 
rivers, having their source in the eastern side of the 
Sierras, pour their floods into Carson and Walker 
lakes, and, like the Humboldt, are lost to view forever. 
Truckee river has its source in the waters of the beau- 
tiful Lake Tahoe, situated upon the crest of the Sierras. 
Tahoe is twenty-onemiles in length, twelve miles in width, 
and elevated 6,250 feet above the sea level, and forms a 
part of the boundary between California and Nevada. 
From this lake the Truckee pours in a mighty torrent, 
for the first few miles passing through deep canons, 
gulches, and ravines, forming rapids and cascades of 
great power and beauty. The river in its course runs 
from Lake Tahoe in a northeasterly direction for a dis- 
tance of more than eighty miles, and until it reaches 
Pyramid lake, on the eastern slope of the Sierras. This 
charming lake is thirty-five miles in length, ten miles in 
width, and elevated 3,940 feet above the waters of the 
Pacific ocean. Thus the waters of Lake Tahoe empty 
into Pyramid lake, but Pyramid lake, like Humboldt, 
Carsoi, Walker, and all the other lakes in the State, 
has no visible outlet, but pours the mighty tide of the 
Truckee, together with its own waters, into the bowels 
of the earth, which, with the waters of all the rivers and 
lakes of the State of Nevada, must pass under the 
Sierras, or to the Colorado river — hundreds of miles — 
before a final outlet is found in the Pacific ocean. 

On the eastern slope of the Sierras, and some other 
mountain ranges in Nevada, there are heavy growths 
of timber, but generally the State is but poorly wooded ; 



544 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



and the plains and valleys are destitute of trees, except 
where fringes of cotton-wood or willows skirt the rivers 
and streams. 

In the mountains wild game is abundant, and the 
Truckee and other rivers abound with trout. The 
native tribes of Indians are of a very low order, and, 
although treacherous and cruel, are not warlike, and 
generally give but little trouble to the whites. 

Agriculture is carried on to considerable extent, and 
there are large areas of tillable land which might be 
brought into a high state of cultivation by carrying 
water in ditches from the mountains. There are wide 
pasture- ranges in the State well adapted to cattle and 
sheep ; and large herds of horned cattle graze at large 
during the whole winter. 

The material growth of Nevada has been very great 
during the past ten years ; and the State may be con- 
sidered as in a prosperous and progressive condition. 

At the end of 1870, the population of Nevada was 
42,491 ; and her taxable property, independent of 
mines, was ^32,524,600, and her working mines were 
valued at $30,000,000 — an aggregate of more than 
$62,000,000, or about $1,500 for each inhabitant in the 
State. Nevada stands the highest of all the States in 
the Union in the average production of wheat ; and 
equal with California and Oregon, the highest average 
producing States in the Union, in barley, oats, rye, and 
potatoes. California and Oregon yield nineteen bushels 
of wheat to the acre ; while Nevada produces twenty- 
three. Illinois yields twelve bushels, Indiana eleven, 
and Tennessee and Virofinia each but ei<jht bushels to 
the acre, on an average. 



NEVADA. 545 

The live stock in the State consists of 8,600 horses, 
1,000 mules, 26,700 cattle, and 12,800 sheep. 

The mineral wealth of Nevada is not surpassed by 
the richest parts of the great mineral region of the 
Pacific coast. The annual yield of the precious metals 
has been about ^15,000,000; at the present period it is 
^25,000,000 per annum. This is the present annual 
yield of the California mines. Rich discoveries of the 
precious metals are being daily made in this region, so 
lately appearing upon the maps of America as "unex- 
plored;" and it would seem that nature had deposited 
her richest treasures In the mountains and rugged hills 
of this remote section, and that through toil, privations, 
dangers, and poverty, the pioneer and hardy miner 
should open the vast gold and silver vaults of Nevada 
to meet the growing wants of the new civilization push- 
ing westward toward the direction of the setting sun, 
and the exigencies of complicated Internal disorders 
of commerce. 

As early as 1850, gold had been discovered In Nevada, 
but until the discover}' of the famous Comstock lode at 
Virginia City, In 1859, but little mining had been done 
in this region ; and the country, a wild and uninhabited 
desert, was regarded as the most worthless and deso- 
late portion of the American continent. In 1859, and 
succeeding years, the discoveries of great deposits of 
gold and silver in the mountains produced a panic 
throughout the whole Pacific coast, almost depopulating 
many sections of California, from which latter State 
Nevada has received almost her entire population. 

Previous to the year 1859, but about $400,000 in 
gold had been obtained in Nevada; since that period 



546 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

to the present, the yield of gold and silver has exceeded 
^135,000,000. 

Marked industry and perseverance are leading traits 
among the population of Nevada, and the vast amount 
of labor being expended upon the mines of the State 
may be partially understood by the fact that there are 
156 quartz-mills, with an aggregate of 2,200 stamps, 
employed in reducing ores. But the wealth of Nevada 
does not consist alone of her agriculture, and gold and 
silver mines, but also in her rich and boundless deposits 
of other minerals: iron, copper, carbonate of soda, 
sulphur, alum, and other minerals of superior quality, 
■and in great abundance, exist throughout the State. 
Salt, so important an article, and so much employed in 
the working of ores, is found in such vast quantities 
that it is supposed that there is salt enough in Nevada 
to supply the markets of the whole United States. 
Salt is found in almost every county in the State : it is 
found upon the surface, and in vast beds in the earth, 
where it can be shovelled up white and pure, and of 
the best quality. Doubtless at one time large salt 
lakes, or perhaps the ocean, covered vast areas of the 
surface of what is now the State of Nevada, and doubt- 
less to this fact may be attributed the presence of such 
Extensive salt- beds as are found in this State. In one 
section of the southern part of Nevada, a single salt-bed 
of great depth and of superior quality covers an area 
of fifty square miles. Salt springs and deposits of 
salt are things which exist all over the globe, at least 
in most countries; but it seems to have been left to 
this section (Nevada) to rear a mountain of this useful 
mineral. In Lincoln county stands a solitary mountain 



I i 'i IMJ 




<,iiBiiililiii!!,i 



iaiiliiiiiM»i 




NEVADA. 



547 



of pure salt, transparent as crystal and of superior 
quality. 

Mining, agriculture, lumbering, cattle and sheep 
raising, and many other branches of industry, are carried 
on most successfully in Nevada. The great overland 
railroad connecting San Francisco and New York 
passes through the whole width of the State, giving a 
stimulus to business, and inducing investments in mining 
interests ; and various other roads, projected and build- 
ing, indicate the speedy development of this section. 
Already there are six hundred miles of railroad built 
in Nevada. 

The State is divided into fourteen counties, and in 
the mining districts there are several growing towns. 
Carson City, at the eastern base of the Sierras, is the 
capital of the State. It is built on a low flat, where the 
skirts of the Sierras reach a fertile valley. The popu- 
lation of the city is 3,042 ; of whom more than half are 
foreigners, there being 1,606 of the latter, and but 
1,436 native Americans. Virginia City, the largest city 
in the State, a few miles east of Carson, and built upon 
the high ridge and over the great Comstock lode — the 
richest and most extensive quartz-mine in the world — 
has a population of 7,048, almost equally divided be- 
tween native and foreign born, there being 3,592 of the 
former, and 3,456 of the latter. White Pine, in the 
centre of a newly discovered and rich mining district, 
although scarcely a hut had been built in it two years 
before, had, at the beginning of 1871, a population of 
7,200. Austin, Belmont, and several other growing 
towns in the mining districts indicate considerable 
activity and signs of general progress. The State has 



54$ THE GOLDEN STATE. 

in Operation 156 quartz-mills, seven flour-mills, and 
twenty-two saw-mills. Schools, churches, theatres, and 
elegant dwellings in all the towns and villages exhibit 
the industry and intelligence of the people, who main- 
tain in their State thirteen newspapers, and an aggre- 
gate of 1 60,000 books in its libraries. 

Notwithstanding the wide areas of barren, alkaline, 
and sandy deserts of Nevada, enough of good soil, 
wide pasture-ranges, forests, lakes, rivers, and mines 
of gold, silver, and other minerals exist to warrant th^ 
permanent wealth and future greatness of this young 
and sparsely populated interior State. 



UTAH. 549 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 



UTAH. 



Area — Acquisition — Climate — Seasons — Mines — Mining — Minerals 
— Mountains — Lakes — Rivers — Agriculture — Education — Ma- 
terial development — Mormons — Society — Population — Great Salt 
lake and Salt Lake City — Overland railroad — Discovery and 
history of Salt lake. 

The Territory of Utah, embracing an area of 106,382 
square miles, is situated directly east of the State of 
Nevada, and is bounded on the west by Nevada, north 
by Idaho and Wyoming, east by Colorado, and south 
by Arizona. 

The area comprising Utah, like that of Nevada and 
a great part of the Territory of Arizona, formerly 
belonged to the Mexican Territory of California, and 
title to it was acquired by the United States when, in 
1846, Commodore Sloat took possession of California 
by hoisting the American flag over the Mexican terri- 
torial capital at Monterey, and by subsequent treaty 
between the United States and the Republic of Mexico 

The Territory, as now bounded, is situated directly 
in the line of the overland railroad connecting San 
Francisco with Chicago, New York, and other eastern 
cities, Ogden, at the head of Great Salt lake, is 881 
miles east of San Francisco and 1,913 miles west of 
Omaha. The road, running in an easterly and westerly 
direction, passes through the extreme northern end of 
the Territory, and close to the northern end of Great 
Salt lake, and through the city of Ogden, and distant 
from Salt Lake City about thirty-six miles. Between 



550 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

this point and the chief city of the "Saints," connection 
is made by a branch railroad uniting the city of Ogden 
and Great Salt Lake City. 

The climate of Utah is mild in many parts, and nearly 
all the tropical and all the semi-tropical fruits grow well 
in the southern districts. Snow seldom falls in the 
valleys, and the rainfall is much less than in the north- 
ern part of California. Altogether, the climate is 
delightful, and in comparison with the country directly 
east of the Rocky mountains, and in the same degree 
of latitude throughout the whole Atlantic coast, it might 
be termed perpetual summer. 

The northern part of the Territory is mountainous, 
and in these regions snow falls to a great depth in 
winter, and for several months the hills and mountains 
are clad in great depths of snow, and cold is intense. 

Mines of the precious and other metals are found 
throughout the hilly sections, and the yield of silver 
during the past few years has greatly increased, in- 
ducing foreign and American capital to embark quite 
largely in the development of the great silver veins of 
this Territory. 

Valleys of great extent and unsurpassed productive- 
ness are numerous, and many of them are well watered 
by the innumerable streams pouring down from the 
mountains and emptying their floods into the lakes 
below, and by canals and ditches. In the southern 
section of the Territory, the surface is much more level 
and less broken by jagged mountain ranges than in the 
north, and in this quarter there are wide ranges of un- 
productive and barren soil. But there are also innu- 
merable valleys of great beauty and fertility, producing 
grain, fruit, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton. Through 



UTAH. 



551 



this section, added to a genial climate and rich soil, are 
the almost countless branches of the main Bear river, 
Colorado, Sevier, Ogden, Weber, Green, and Grand 
rivers — supplying the country abundantly with water. 

The Colorado river proper (but near its source 
known as the Green river) has its fountain-head in the 
western base of the Rocky mountains, in the centre of 
Wyoming Territory, from which point it passes in a 
southwestern direction in its serpentine course, for 
more than fifteen hundred miles in length, until it 
reaches the Gulf of California, through which it finds a 
passage for its waters to the Pacific ocean. 

Utah, under the stimulus of railroads, the opening of 
her mines, the development of her agricultural resources, 
and the industry of her people, is fast assuming marked 
indications of permanent prosperity. The hand of 
skilled labor is leading the cooling waters of the high 
mountain streams and lakes into the parched valleys, 
and converting seeming sterile and desert wastes into 
fields of waving corn, and gardens and orchards of 
beauty and great value. 

The productiveness and fertility of the soil is unsur- 
passed by any section of the country. Large areas 
under wheat produce as high as twenty-two bushels to 
the acre; barley, twenty-nine bushels; corn, twenty-four 
bushels; oats, thirty-three bushels; and potatoes, one 
hundred and twenty-five bushels: these are about the 
average productions, and far surpass the yield of any 
State or Territory east of the Rocky mountains. 

Public schools are maintained by law. In 1870, there 
were 200 school districts and 25,000 school children 
between the ages of four and sixteen years in the Ter- 
ritory. Polygamy being a part of the religion of the 



552 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



people, the increase of children, in proportion to the 
population, is remarkably large as compared with other 
sections of the country. 

The mineral wealth of Utah, which, until recently, 
had been almost entirely unknown, is fast attracting- 
public attention; and the annual product of gold and 
silver is estimated at ^2,500,000, with every prospect 
of a large increase. But the wealth of the Territory 
is not confined to the precious metals. Iron, copper, 
lead, and many other minerals abound throughout the 
country, and inexhaustible beds of superior coal have 
recently been opened, and the great salt inland sea of 
Great Salt lake — seventy-five miles in length, thirty-five 
miles in breadth, and 4,300 feet above the sea — sup- 
plies unlimited quantities of salt. 

A half a century ago the foot of a white man had 
not entered the vast region of the "Great Salt Lake 
desert," and the people now knocking at the doors of 
the national halls of legislation for the admission of the 
State of Deseret were scattered in every corner of the 
globe, and might still be beyond the Rocky mountains 
and over the seas in interior Europe had it not been for 
the quickening impulse of the "spirit of prophecy" and 
the new revelation to the " prophet Joseph" of the new 
religion through which wandering spirits could easily 
reach the abode of the blessed, and rejoice with their 
fathers through righteousness and the deeds done in 
the flesh. 

Agriculture and stock-raising are the chief occupa- 
tions of the people, but recently a variety of manufac- 
turing industries and mining occupy a large portion of 
the skill and labor of the people of Utah, great num- 
bers of whom belonged to the laboring classes of Europe 



UTAH. 553 

before joining the Mormons, and who carry into their 
business affairs the marked industry and frugaHty of 
the European peasantry. 

There are in the Territory, besides other marked 
signs of material prosperity, fifty-five grist-mills, fifty- 
two saw-mills, several quartz-mills, and many in course 
of construction ; eight newspapers and thirteen libra- 
ries — public and county — with an aggregate of fourteen 
thousand books. 

Bear River, Jordan, and Salt Lake valleys are very- 
productive, and possess great advantages for the 
prosecution of diversified agriculture ; but interspersed 
among the mountains, lakes, and fertile valleys are 
wide ranges of most uninviting country, in some places 
covered with white sage ; in others, the surface is grav- 
elly, dry, and sandy, without the sign of vegetable or 
animal life. These wide areas, added to the bald hills 
and ridges, without tree or shrub as far as the eye can 
reach, present a most desolate aspect. 

Utah, like a large portion of all that region in its 
vicinity, is quite destitute of forest trees, and the evils 
experienced by farmers and others from this cause 
alone are very great. In the vicinity of Salt Lake City 
no trees grow except a few that have been planted, and 
the nighest fuel supply of wood to the city is at a dis- 
tance of fifteen to twenty-five miles, and twenty and 
forty miles is not an unusual distance for the people to 
draw their scant supply of fuel. 

Owing to the want of summer rains, and the alkaline 
and light soil in many places, agriculture is only made 
profitable by the aid of irrigation. Under the rule of 
the "saints," public officers see that each member of 
society contribute their time or money to erecting dams, 



554 ^-^^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

reservoirs, and ditches to lead the waters of the streams 
into the agricultural districts. By this system, and the 
industry of the inhabitants, large areas that otherwise 
must remain totally useless are made to "blossom like 
the rose" and produce most abundantly. 

Nothing so much strikes the traveller through Utah 
as the dull, quiet, dreamy apathy of the people, and the 
humble abodes in which they dwell throughout the 
country. None of the nicely-painted houses, with 
thrifty flower and kitchen gardens, and bright-faced, 
clean children, and sparkling-eyed, active mothers, and 
charming young ladies at the needle or the piano, are 
seen — not but that the people are industrious enough, 
but generally the absence of lumber, the long, dry, 
dusty summers, the scarcity of water, and a general 
desire to do nothing but what is " useful," with the in- 
fluence of woman "bound to service and labor',' give to 
these people, in their patched-up cabins of bits of 
boards, rails, slabs, brush, tin, and green hide, the ap- 
pearance of gypsies rather than of Americans ; indeed, 
it is scarcely just to call the Mormons by the latter name, 
gathered as they are from every quarter of the globe, 
holding themselves, in religion, society, and even in 
government, distinct and independent from the people 
and government of the United States, and living in a 
remote and isolated region where they never come in 
contact with the people of the country in which they 
have built up their sovereign dominion of Church and 
State. 

Still the Mormons have done much in their hereto- 
fore-secluded home. On the arrival of their advance 
guard at Salt lake, on July 24, 1847, they found the 
whole land a howling desert — its pasture ranges the 




BRIGHAM young's HAREMS, SALT LAKE CITY. 
C Bee Kive " on the right, " Lion House " on left. Young's office, central building.) 




STREET SCENE IN SALT LAKE CITY. 



UTAH. 



555 



home of the buffalo and deer ; its hills the haunts of 
voracious beasts and savage men ; and its sandy wastes 
the sepulchres of their fellows and the "valley of death" 
to their famished and burdened beasts. 

Who can recount the trials and privations of these 
people, and not feel a pang of pity for the masses led 
on by a few designing knaves, seeking their own ag- 
grandizement through the spirit of "false prophecy" 
and the superstition of their dupes? 

But out of the chaos of the heart of the great desert 
of America, the combined labor and the indomitable 
spirit of the people and the leader of the new religion, 
the followers of "Joseph the prophet," have brought 
not only peculiarities of religious practices and social 
disorder, but also growing towns, prosperous cities, and 
dense communities, soon to add a new star to the con- 
stellation of our national Union of States. 

The federal census of 1870 gives the entire popula- 
tion of Utah at 86,786, about equally divided between 
the sexes. Of the whole population, 86,044 were white, 
118 colored, and 445 Chinese. A great majority of the 
adult population are of foreign birth, gathered up from 
every part of Europe by the proselyting ministers of 
the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;" and 
the larger number of native than foreign population 
appearing in the census returns is owing to the rapid 
increase of children under the careftd husbandry of the 
"saints." 

The native population of Utah is 56,084, and the 
foreign population 30,702 ; while 60,000 of the popula- 
tion are the children of foreign parents. 

Great Salt Lake City, the chief city of the Mormons, 
and the wonderful inland salt sea of Salt lake, are as 



556 "^HE GOLDEN STATE. 

well known in history to the whole American people 
and a great portion of Europe as is the Republic of 
America itself. 

The city, begun in 1847, ^s situated on the level val- 
ley, about 4,300 feet above the sea, in the great "Utah 
desert," and twelve miles distant from Great Salt lake. 
A short distance from the city are ranges of hills, deep 
canons, and abrupt mountains, clad in perpetual snow ; 
which, with the vast rows of shade trees planted in the 
streets and gardens of the city, and rippling threads of 
water passing through the gutters, give a very pictur- 
esque and charming view. The streets are laid out at 
right angles, are broad, clean, and level. 

The city proper is about four miles in length and two 
miles wide, and is chiefly built of adobe or bricks dried 
in the sun ; and with these is built much after the man- 
ner and has much the appearance of all the old Spanish 
towns in Mexico and California. These houses make 
little pretension to architectural beauty ; and with low 
ceilings, small doors, and few and small windows, and, 
in many cases, ground-floors, contrast strongly with the 
neat, white house, with green shutters, plate glass, and 
fine carpets, of the people of New England and the 
Atlantic States generally. But there are many fine 
buildings in the city, including the public buildings, (the 
city being the capital of the Territory,) the Endow- 
ment House, Temple Block, the Tabernacle, and the 
residences and harems of Brigham Young and his 
apostles. 

The population of the capital city is 12,854; of whom 
7,604 are of native birth and 5,250 are foreigners. 
Almost every nationality on the globe is represented 
here, either for the purposes of trade or the hope of 



UTAH. 557 

salvation. Every country of Europe contributes mem- 
bers to the Mormon faith — England, Wales, France, 
Germany, Austria, Russia, Holland, Sweden, and Den- 
mark. Irish and Scotch are scarce, still the Irish Mor- 
mon is not unknown ; and the Jew, African, and China- 
man embrace the faith and \}i\^ plural wives oi \k\^ Mor- 
mons with avidity and an apparent relish, particularly 
if they can see ease and money in it. 

Besides Salt Lake City there are several other cities 
and towns of importance in the Territory, fast develop- 
ing into respectable proportions under the stimulus of 
railroads and the recent rich discoveries of extensive 
and rich silver mines ; but all the buildings partake of 
the adobe, tile roof, low ceilings, and shabby appearance 
of three-quarters of the houses in Salt Lake City. 

Ogden, a shabby-looking place, romantically cluster- 
ing at the foot of high ridges of volcanic mountains, at 
the northern end of Salt lake, and thirty-six miles north 
of Salt Lake City, is the terminus of the Central Pacific 
portion of the overland railroad, and distant from San 
Francisco 88 1 miles. From this point, looking toward 
the south, is a fine view of Great Salt lake and the snow- 
clad mountains to the west, which seem to shadow their 
fleecy crowns in the sea of the desert. Here, passen- 
gers overland, going east or west, change cars, although 
they do not change roads. From this point, a rail- 
road of thirty-six miles in length runs directly south to 
Salt Lake City ; and persons desiring to see the great 
city of the plains must leave the main road and travel 
south thirty-six miles. 

Ogden contains a population of 3,1 27; of whom 2,086 
are native and 1,061 are of foreign birth. Mount 
Pleasarj^ another town, has a population of 1,346; of 



558 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

whom 752 are native and 594 are foreigners. Manti 
has 1,239 i'^ population; and Logan, the only other 
place of importance in the Territory, has a population 

of 1,757- 

Not the least remarkable of all the natural wonders 
of this country are its numerous hot and mineral 
springs, its lakes, and rivers, many of which sink and 
are lost entirely in the desert. But the most singular 
and best known natural object in the whole territory 
is the famous lake — the great inland salt sea of America 
— Great Salt lake, located in what is known as the 
great interior basin lying between the Rocky moun- 
tains on the east and the Sierra Nevadas on the west, 
and extending from Oregon to the Colorado river: 
interpersed with lakes, rivers, springs, and geysers, and 
parallel mountain chains passing from north to south, 
broken occasionally, as about Salt lake, with jagged 
mountain peaks and broken ridges elevating as do 
Mount Nebo, 8,000 feet; Wasatch, 6,000 feet; and 
Twin Peaks, a little south of Salt Lake City, elevated to 
11,600 feet above the sea level. In this region did 
the early pilgrim to the shrine of mammon in the 
golden sands of California, and the disciples of the 
new religion of America, fall fainting by the way in the 
tedious march over arid plains and burning sands, and 
famished for want of food and water, chased by fierce 
bands of painted and plumed savages, or by the fasci- 
nating illusions of the mysterious mirage lead their 
weary march toward man, river, ship, or sea, in the 
gauzy vapors and thin air of nothingness which dis- 
solved at touch. 

Geological evidences all teach that, at some remote 
period, the greater portion of the vast basia of the 




THE MORMOX TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY. 




A MORMOX FAMILY 




PULPIT RdCK, F.CHD CAN' >N'. 





MONUMENT ROCK, ECHO CANON, UTAH. 



UTAH. 559 

interior of America was a sea, of which Salt lake 
alone remains as a living witness; and the great num- 
bers of hot, mineral, and other springs in and about 
Sail Lake City, and other portions of the Territory, 
attest to the fact of recent volcanic disturbances in this 
entire section. 

Great Salt lake, the main objective point of interest 
in the Territory of Utah, is situated near the north- 
western part of the Territory, and at an elevation of 
4,200 feet above the sea level. It is surrounded, or 
nearly so, by ranges of hills, and upon the west with 
high mountains whose peaks are covered perpetually 
with snow. The lake is seventy-five miles long in a 
direct line, and thirty-five miles broad, but its irregular 
form gives it greater dimensions, and Its size, as cal- 
culated by skilled engineers, is ninety miles In length 
by forty miles in breadth. Into this sea of the desert 
many rivers and streams empty, but the lake is but 
little changed either in volume or its waters in their 
great salt-producing capacity. Several large islands 
are In the lake, and upon them, as throughout the 
greater part of the territory, the same combinations of 
hot, sulphur, salt, and other springs are visible. 

The water in Salt lake is of an average depth of 
ten feet, but in many places near the centre its depth 
is much greater. Reports from time to time of great 
sink-holes through the bottom of the lake, through 
which the waters find an outlet to the ocean, or into 
the depths of the bowels of the earth, are incorrect. 
So far, no outlet has been discovered for the waters, 
either by an interior passage or surface stream, and the 
conclusion that the waters are absorbed by percolation 
and solar evaporation must be regarded as correct 



560 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

until further evidences of other sources of escape are 
demonstrated. 

Salt lakes, salt springs, salt beds, and salt mountains 
abound throughout the great Interior basin of America. 
Arizona and Nevada have great supplies of salt in their 
desert regions, as well as sulphur, alum, borax, soda, 
and other minerals; but the great salt sea of Utah sur- 
passes all in magnitude and In capability of production. 

Notions prevail that the waters of Salt lake are pure 
brine, but this is Incorrect. In some parts of Utah, and 
Indeed close to the lake, are springs and streams of this 
character, but, while Salt lake is the saltest body of water 
In the world of Its magnitude, the great floods of water 
from rivers and the melting snows of the mountains 
finding their way Into the lake much reduce the saline 
quality of the water. 

The waters of the Atlantic ocean yield about three 
per cent, of saline matter, while the waters of the Great 
Salt lake produce twenty per cent, of pure salt. Salt 
lake contains about a thousand billion solid feet of 
water, and Is capable of producing five hundred billion 
tons of salt, which would supply the wants of the present 
population of the whole globe for more than a tJiousajid 
years. The salt of this vast inland sea Is carried from 
the deserts, salt beds, hill-sides, and salt springs of the 
mountain-sides, In solution Into this great salt basin. 

During the whole period of the colonization of 
America and the progress of the United States, up to 
1845, nothing comparatively was known of the great 
interior region of the American continent; indeed, 
until the discovery of gold in California, with the excep- 
tion of a few trappers, no Caucasian eye had ever seen 
Great Salt lake and its vicinity. As early as the year 



UTAH. 561 

1690, Baron Horton, the French governor of the colony 
of Newfoundland, had made a journey into the interior 
of America, and is supposed to have reached and navi- 
gated the Mississippi river, in the vicinity of which he 
learned from tribes of natives, who brought him cap- 
tives of other tribes, of the existence of a great inland 
salt sea ; and this information, communicated by the 
Baron to his countrymen, is the first recorded history 
we have touching this wondrous lake. The Baron 
writes: 

"The Mozeemlek nation is numerous and puissant. These four 
captives informed me that, at a distance of one hundred and fifty 
leagues from where I then was, their principal river empties itself 
into a salt lake of three hundred leagues in circumference, the mouth 
of which is two leagues broad ; that there are a hundred towns,, 
great and small, around that sort of sea, and upon it they navigate 
with such boats as you see drawn on the map, which map the 
Mozeemlek people drew me on the bark of trees ; that the people 
of that country made stuffs, copper axes, and several other manu- 
factures." 

We next find mention of Salt lake and its vicinity in 
a publication deriving its authority on this subject from 
the accounts of the natives of the interior, and issued 
in 1772, with the remarkable title of "A description of 
the Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards called 
Florida, and by the French called Louisiana;" in which 
is given an account of "a lake many leagues west of 
the mountains in which there is no living creature, but 
around its shores the spirits inhabit in great vapors ; 
and out of that lake a great river disembogues into the 
South sea." 

In the winter of 1824-5, a party of American trap- 
pers, connected with the fur company of Ashley, Henry^ 
and others, found themselves in the vicinity of Great 



562 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Salt lake, and James Bridger, one of the number, was 
intrusted to follow the course of Bear river, in which 
he was led to discover the lake, and, after tasting its 
water, had concluded that it must be an arm of the 
Pacific ocean. In the spring of 1826, four men, in skin 
canoes, explored its margin and islands in search of an 
outlet and in pursuit of beaver, neither of which were 
found. This is supposed to have been the first Ameri- 
can discovery of this inland sea, and James Bridger is 
supposed to have been the real discoverer. 

The expeditions fitted out by the United States in 
1842-5, under the leadership of John C. Fremont, and 
subsequent scientific expeditions, brought for the first 
time to the notice of the general public the wonders of 
Great Salt lake and its vicinity, and the final settlement 
of the Mormon pilgrims at this point. The overland 
emigration to California and Oregon, and finally the 
completion of the great overland railroad, connecting 
the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by steam, and passing 
close to the northern end of the lake, and through the 
entire length of Utah, has brought this whole region, 
with its natural wonders and its singular people, into 
direct contact with the public. 

The traveller will now find in Utah, in addition to 
railroad conveniences, a comfortable steamboat navi- 
gating the waters of Great Salt lake. 





JOSEPH SMITH, 

Founder of the Morman Church. 



BRIGHAM YOUNG, HEAD OF THE MORMON 
CHURCH. 




JOSEPH P. SMITH. 

(Nephew of Jo. Smith, Jr., and one of the Twelve 
Apostles. ) 




MRS. ALICE YOUNG CLAWSON. 
(Bri^ham Yniin<T's eldest daiiehter — an actress. 
Herself and her two sisters are married to H. B. 
Clawson. ) 




GEORGE A. SMITH, FIRST COUNSELLOR, 
CHURCH HISTORIAN. NEXT TO YOUNG 
IN AUTHORITY. 




OKSjUN PRATT, 
ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 



ORSON HYDE, 
PRESIDENT OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 563 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 

Population and religions of the world — Christianity — Mohamme- 
danism — Buddhism — Judaism — Mormonism: its rise, progress, 
history, and practices — Joseph the prophet and his followers — 
The golden plates from the hill Cumorah — Christ in America — 
Mormon and Moroni — John the Baptist ordains Joseph Smith — 
Smith's birth, early history, life, adventures, and death — Polyg- 
amy — Brigham Young : his birth, history, and career — Desertion 
of Nauvoo — Mormons march westward — Settle at Salt lake — 
Their city, religion, society, and practices — Despotism in Utah — 
Mormon godhead. 

In considering- the peculiar religious tenets of the 
only organized religious body claiming to be Christian 
which still practices, as a part of its faith, polygamy, 
and holds a distinct revelation from God to its prophet, 
it is well to briefly review the several religious divisions 
of the earth, and the leading organized religions of the 
world. 

The population of the globe is in round numbers 
about 1,381,000,000, divided as follows: 380,000,000 
Caucasians, 200,000,000 Ethiopians, 220,000,000 Ma- 
lays 1,000,000 American Indians, and 580,000,000 
Mongolians. 

All these people speak 3,064 languages and practice 
1,000 different religions, which may be classed into six 
general divisions, within which all the other creeds and 
denominations exist. These general divisions of course 
convey but an imperfect idea of the religious faith of 
the several divisions of the globe, as the reader may 
j'udge from the fact that all European countries and 
America are classed as Christian; but the division will 



564 ^-^-S GOLDEN STATE. 

at least form a general estimate without going into com- 
plicated details of enumeration. The six great religious 
organizations represent the population of the world as 
follows: Christians, 388,600,000; Pagans, 200,000,000; 
Mohammedans, 165,400,000; Jews, 7,000,000; and 
Buddhists and other Asiatic religions, 620,000,000, or 
almost one-half of the population of the whole globe. 
The countries in which Christianity is the prevailing 
religion are Europe, America, Australia, some of the 
Polynesian islands, that part of Russia in Asia, and a 
few minor places. 

Before the discovery of Japan by Pinto, in 1542, it 
had passed through many religious forms. As early 
as 1549, Xavier, the great apostle of Catholicism, was 
received by the Prince of Satsuma into the empire, and 
he and his successors had, up to 1584, converted to the 
Christian faith 1,800,000 Japanese, and had 200 priests 
established in the country, all of whom were subse- 
quently, by edicts of banishment, driven from the 
empire ; since which time no trace of Christianity has 
existed in the land until the year 1872, when an im- 
perial decree abolished the edicts against Christianity, 
some of which had been strictly enforced for more than 
three centuries. The royal edicts of 1872, ordering 
the Buddhist priests to learn trades or enter the army, 
under pains and penalties for disobedience, exhibit 2. 
practical turn of mind in the Mikado and his progress- 
ive advisers. 

Mohammedanism prevails in Turkey, Persia, Afghan- 
istan, Morocco, Egypt, Tunis, Tripoli, and numerous 
interior States. 

Buddhism, the prevailing religion of China and Japan^ 
(modified and changed in some places,) extends over 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 565 

India, Farther India, China, Japan, Burmah, and Siam, 
and other portions of Asia; and the seven miUion Jews 
are "dispersed" over the globe as follows: in Ger- 
many, 478,500; Austria, 1,124,000; Great Britain, 
40,000; France, 80,000 ; European Russia, 2,277,000; 
Italy, 20,200; Switzerland, 4,200; Belgium, 1,500; 
Netherlands, 64,000; Luxemburg, 1,500; Denmark, 
4,200; Sweden, 1,000; Greece, 500; European Turkey, 
70,000 ; Portugal, 3,000 ; Syria and Asiatic Turkey, 
52,000; Morocco and North Africa, 610,000; Eastern 
Asia, 500,800 ; and America, 500,000. 

Of the 38,555,983 people forming the population of 
the United States, according to the census of 1870, 
there are estimated to be 33,555,983 Protestants and 
5,000,000 Catholics. The Catholics belong to the 
Romish church, and acknowledge the pope as the sov- 
ereign head of the church. The Protestants, so called, 
represent every conceivable religion, from believing in 
Christ, either as the Saviour or as a moral reformer 
simply, or the intensest atheism. 

Throughout most parts of the world, some particular 
religious order is established and maintained by legal 
authority; as the Greek church in Russia, the Episcopal 
church in England, the Catholic church in Austria, 
Buddhism in China, and Sintooism in Japan. In 
America, there are no religious orders or sects main- 
tained by authority of the government, but the republic 
is classed amonof the Protestant nations of the world. 
All persons not Catholics are supposed to be and are 
denominated Protestants, although this class embraces 
hundreds of religious orders differinof almost as much 
from each other as do the Universalist and the Catholic 
from each other. 



566 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The guarantee of equal religious freedom assured 
to all by the federal constitution of the United States 
gives generous scope to the people either to practise 
or to organize new forms of religion ; but with few ex- 
ceptions, new religious enterprises have been barren 
of desirable results, and have failed to attract such sup- 
port as would give them material strength and national 
or international prominence. 

The four great controlling religions of the world — 
Christianity, Mohammedaftisjn, Judaism, and Budd- 
his7)i — had their origin in Asia and in Europe, as is 
claimed, under the direct control of God and visitation 
of angels. But whether from the fact of the turbid 
waters of the Atlantic not being- invitinof for aerial celes- 
tial flights from the Old to the New World, or that the 
soil of the new continent was not productive of worthy 
objects of "inspiration," America, with all its progress 
and invention, has not promulgated a religion of any 
great magnitude, and its people have received but few 
celestial visitations, and these generally of a very local 
and imperfect order, and generally ending in complete 
failure. True, the great established religious bodies 
have been fearfully mutilated, and limbs lopped off and 
new ones engrafted, but generally without change or 
injury to the parent body. "Warnings, visitations, and 
dreams" of coming events have been "foreshadowed" 
to "wise ones," and "visions" have proclaimed the "end 
of the world" to "chosen ones," who abandoned their 
earthly goods preparatory to their aerial flight. Trum- 
pets have sounded to warn people of the " coming to 
pass" of the destruction of the race ; but a few days 
generally found the disciples of such doctrines visiting 
the " groceries" for pork and beans, and their " celestial 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 567 

trumpets" turned into fish-horns to aid in peddling 
clams, or gathering old clothes and " soap-fat." 

" Spiritual manifestations " have been pretty freely 
dispensed in America; and, besides the "appearance" 
of all the notables of our own country, Europe and 
Asia have sent us some of their choicest brands. Han- 
nibal, Julius Caesar, Confucius, and Napoleon have 
"come over the seas," and, through "mediums," given 
us glimpses of cool and sulphurous regions without 
much disturbing the equanimity of our people. 

The only genuine demonstration that we have yet 
had in America, through the direct medium of " inspira- 
tion" and "angels," was the "revelations" made to the 
"prophet" Joseph Smith, the founder oi Mormonis^n — 
the new American religion of the " Disciples of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints." In this new enterprise 
many of the necessary elements in successfully estab- 
lishing religious creeds seem well defined : the obscu- 
rity, ignorance, and superstition of its founder and 
"prophet," and the "persecution" of its disciples. 

Joseph "the prophet," vulgarly called Joseph Smith, 
is supposed to have come " among his people " without 
any mysterious disturbances of the ordered laws of 
nature other than attend the birth of common "sinners." 
His father in the flesh was a plain, medium-sized man, 
without education, who lived by doing od i jobs for his 
neighbors, telling fortunes, "finding things lost," and 
seeing with a " double sight." He had no visible physi- 
cal marks to distinguish him from his fellow-men, save 
that he was rather taller than ordinary persons, had a 
long nose and a large mouth, and was afflicted with 
chronic laziness. 

The mother of the "prophet," whose maiden name 



568 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

was Lucy Mack, is said to have belonged to the " lower 
order" of people. She was a simple-minded, ignorant, 
unlettered woman, full of superstitious notions, and 
believing in " signs" and dreams, and was of much ser- 
vice to her husband, Joseph Smith, Sr., in " divining" 
things. This pair had their terrestrial domicil at the 
litde village of Sharon, Windsor county, in the State 
of Vermont; and here, on the 23d of December, 1805, 
Joseph the "prophet" was born. It is not recorded 
by the people of Sharon that there were any terrestrial 
or celestial "signs" to proclaim the advent of the 
" revealer of truth." The boy, at a very tender age, 
exhibited marked symptoms of the "talents" of his 
parents — ignorance, superstition, and " sight-seeing ;" 
and soon became expert in "divining," and the use of 
witch-hazel in locating suitable positions for his neigh- 
bors' wells, from which occupation he acquired the title 
of "water-witch," in which he much delighted. It was 
in one of these wells, located by his " divining-rod," that 
he once found the " mysterious peep-stone," through 
which he could see all things, " past, present, and to 
come ;" and by which he could, like his earthly progeni- 
tor, " find things lost." Indeed, the boy seemed to have 
absorbed the whole of the varied " talents " of his 
parents, as the rest of the family seem to be only like 
other poor, ignorant people. 

In the year 181 5, when Joseph was ten years of age, 
the family with the young "prophet" settled in Wayne 
county, near the village of Palmyra, in the State of 
New York, where they remained for ten years. At 
the end of this period the " prophet" was twenty years 
of age, and had considerably developed his "talent" as 
"water-witch" and "sight-seer," and "revealing" the 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 569 

location of "lost, strayed, or stolen" cattle or goods, 
and the "buried treasures of the pirates," in all of 
which he spent much of his time when not employed 
in hewing wood and drawing water, or feeding the hogs 
and stock of his neighbors, at a monthly stipend of six 
dollars. 

On leaving Wayne county, the "Smith family" moved 
to the adjoining county of Ontario, taking up their 
abode near Manchester. 

It is reported by Joseph that, at the tender years of 
sixteen, he had a "visitation," warning him of the 
danger of his losing his soul, and of the ungodly 
character of the organized religious institutions of his 
time; and that while at prayer "in the bush" at the 
rear of the paternal mansion, in Ontario county, a 
celestial pyrotechnic display illuminated the forest and 
"the person of the prophet," and in a "vision" he saw 
two angels, who brought unto him the glad news of the 
forgiveness of his sins, and that he was chosen by God 
to reveal the "true religion" and dispel all existing sects. 
On -the 23d of September, 1823, the prayers of Joseph 
brought him another visit from angels, and renewed 
assurance of heavenly powers, and finally "revealing" 
to him that his hand should draw forth from " the hill 
Cumorah" xh& plates of gold v^h^reon were inscribed, in 
a language known only to himself, the gospel of the 
true God. 

On the 22d of September, 1826, in the midst of 
angels and revolting devils, " with a mighty display of 
celestial machinery," Joseph, unaccompanied, save by 
the "messengers," extracted from the hill Cumorah, 
near Manchester, the domicil of his parents in Ontario 
county. New York, a "mysterious box, containing 



570 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

golden plates of the thickness of tin, bound together 
like a book, fastened at one side by three rings, which 
run through the whole, forming a volume about six 
inches thick," upon which was engraved, in " reformed 
Egyptian, the language of the Jews and the writings of 
the Egyptians." The box also contained four precious 
stones, " transparent and clear as crystal — the U^iin 
and Thummi7n used by seers in ancient times — the in- 
struments of revelations of things distant, past, and 
future." 

From these golden plates Joseph, by inspiration, 
translated the " Book of Mormon," the Bible of the 
Mormons, which was first published in 1830 by Pome- 
roy Tucker, of Ontario county. New York. The divine 
authenticity of the work being doubted by "unbeliev- 
ers," the Lord sent living witnesses in the persons of 
three " disciples" — David Whitmer, an obscure, simple 
man, Martin Harris, a superstitious neighbor of the 
young " prophet," and Oliver Cowdery, an itinerant 
scribe, who aided Joseph in the translation — all of whom 
make the solemn declaration attached to the printed 
copies of the " Book of Mormon," as follows : 

"We have seen the plates which contain the records. They were 
translated by the gift and power of God, for His voice hath de- 
clared it unto us, wherefore we know of a surety that the work is 
true; and we declare, with words of soberness, that an angel of 
God came down from heaven, and brought and laid before our eyes, 
that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon." 

. Other disciples of the ** prophet" followed with evi- 
dence of the " divine origin" of the plates. Among 
these testifying were three of the Smith family, besides 
a number of the immediate friends and neighbors of 
Joseph. They certify : 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 5 7 1 

"Joseph Smith, the translator, has shown us the plates of which 
hath been spoken, which had the appearance of gold ; and as many 
of the plates as the said Smith had translated we did handle with 
our hands; and also saw the engravings thereon; all of which had 
the appearance of ancient work and curious workmanship." 

The account given of the origin of the golden plates, 
and the necessity of their discovery, as given by Smith, 
together with the " evidence" of those who " saw" the 
plates, is doubtless sufficient evidence to establish, in 
the minds of many, the " divine origin" of the " Book 
of Mormon ;" and however shallow and absurd it may 
be, it must be acknowledged that it is but little more 
absurd and unnatural than the basis upon which thou- 
sands, if not millions, of the race found their faith. 

The prophet Joseph says that, about six hundred 
years before Christ, God warned a band of Israelites 
at Jerusalem of approaching captivity and destruction, 
and directed them eastward to seek the "promised 
land ;" that when at the sea, Nephi, the leader of the 
band, was directed by angels to build a craft, upon 
which a " double ball and spindle " were attached, in 
which the Israelites set sail for the west, and landed all 
safe in Central America, (Columbus had not yet started 
his ships toward the new world.) After spending some 
time in South America, where they "multiplied," a 
vicious Jew of the name of Laman got up a conspiracy 
against the " priesthood," for which all hands, pries^ts 
and all, were " cursed " and doomed henceforth " to 
be a brutish and a savage people, having dark skins, 
compelled to dig in the ground for roots, and hunt 
their meat in the forests like beasts of prey." It, how- 
ever, was prophesied that God would eventually rescue 
a portion of the tribe, who should " have the curse 



572 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

removed, and become a fair and delightsome people," 
who, in coming time, should " blossom as the rose 
under the teachings of the Latter-day Saints," The 
party upon whom the "curse" remained were the 
followers of Laman, called the Lamanites, from whom 
sprang the American Indians ; and from the party 
having the curse removed came the Nephites, called 
after Nephi, their first ruler. Alma, Kish, Noah, and 
others had ruled these people, who, like the Lamanites. 
had spread over the whole American continent, built 
cities, and carried on protracted wars in which hundreds 
of thousands were slain. Local disorders, caused by 
" false prophets," had long disturbed the composure 
of the Nephites, who had become numerous and power- 
ful, holding complete dominion of a great part of in- 
terior America; finally powerful bands from the Rocky 
mountains came down and drove the Nephites east, to 
the waters of Lake Erie, where a vigorous stand was 
made, in which the Nephites were worsted. 

After the crucifixion of Christ at Jerusalem, he came 
over to America, and dispensed his gospel to the tribes 
of the " lost children of Israel," making many converts 
among the Nephites. But the new disciples were 
doomed to defeat and annihilation ; from the north 
came down the famous mountain chief, Onandagus, and 
" covered the whole land with dead bodies." 

The fierce Lamanites with the " curse" on them 
were still in rebellion, and after pushing the Nephites 
from the mountains, across the Mississippi, and beyond 
the lakes, finally surrounded them in Ontario county, 
New York, where, in the year of our Lord 430, at the 
hill Cumorah, two hundred and thirty thousand of 
the Christian Nephites lay slain. Monjion, and his son 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 



573 



Moroni, of all this once powerful nation, remained. 
By these the history of their extinct race was perpetu- 
ated. Mormon having added an account of his de- 
parted people, and being assured by angels from 
heaven that in lapse of time the hand of a prophet 
should restore the record to the world, took the sacred 
volume and delivered it into the hands of his son Mo- 
roni, who, in obedience to his father's injunction, buried 
it in the hill Cumorah, which is in the county of Ontario, 
in the State of New York, from whence, on the 2 2d 
day of September, 1826, according to prophecy, they 
were brought forth by the hand of "Joseph the 
prophet." 

This is the record left by Joseph Smith of the origin 
of the new religion of " the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints," of which he was the founder. The 
sect and their book take their names from the preserver 
of the records of the Christian Nephites, Mormon, 
whose volume, "The Book of Mormon," as translated by 
Joseph, was first given to the world from the press of a 
newspaper office in Ontario county, New York, in 1830. 

In denial of the divine origin of the Book of Mor- 
mon, it is stated that, in 181 2, the Rev. Solomon Spaul- 
ding, a Presbyterian minister, who from failing health 
had left his profession, had written a romance called 
the "Manuscript Found" having its principal scenes 
laid in the history of the Indian tribes of the interior of 
America. The manuscript Mr. Spaulding endeavored 
to have printed by Mr. Patterson, of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, and others, desiring it to be prefaced as 
deciphered from plates dug from the earth in Ohio. 
But failing in this, the manuscript was left in the hands 



574 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

of Mr, Patterson, who kept a printing office, in which 
Sidney Rigdon, one of the " founders of the faith," was 
employed. Patterson died in 1826, but the manuscript 
was never after seen by any of his friends. 

Mrs. Spaulding, the widow of the author of " Manu- 
script Found,'' avers that she had a complete copy of 
her husband's book in manuscript; and, in 1825, while 
residing in Ontario county, New York, that Joe 
Smith was digging a well for a Mr. Stroud, who lived 
next door to her, and that her copy of the book disap- 
peared from her trunk. 

When the "Book of Mormon" appeared, the rela- 
tives of Patterson, the printer, and Mrs. Spaulding and 
her relatives recognized the latter as an interpolation of 
"Manuscript Found,'' and published all the facts; only, 
however, to draw from Smith, Rigdon, and their fol- 
lowers cries of " persecution." 

Mormonism was being promulgated as early as the 
15th of May, 1829. John the Baptist appeared among 
the disciples and ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver 
Cowdery in the Aaronic priesthood, and on the 6th of 
April, 1830, near the town of Manchester, the home 
of the prophet, the "Mormon church" was organized 
with the friends and family of Joseph, six in all, consist- 
ing of Joseph Smith, his father Joseph, senior, Samuel 
Smith, Hyrum Smith, Joseph Knight, and Oliver Cow- 
dery, The laying on of hands " for the gift of the Holy 
Ghost" followed the sacrament, which had been par- 
taken of by all, and on the nth of April, 1830, the first 
Mormon sermon was preached by Oliver Cowdery, 
soon after followed by a " miracle," and a first " confer- 
ence " on June ist following. The wife of the prophet 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 575 

Joseph was, by special revelation, proclaimed " Elect 
Lady and Daughter of God." 

Soon acquisitions to the " revealed truth" from all 
sides poured in, and zealous preachers were sent 
among the Gentiles and Lamanites to tell them of the 
fulfilment of the prophecy. 

At first, the "doctrines" of the church were not very 
definite ; any views suited to attract superstitious, sim- 
ple-minded persons, seeking for " signs," " wonders," 
and "revelations" were acceptable. The "destruction 
of the world " was very effective in drawing timid 
women and semi-idiotic men into the circle of the 
" saints." 

Joseph Smith soon assumed absolute control of the 
Mormon church, not alone from the fact that he had 
been " inspired by God to reveal the truth," but that he 
was endowed with the spirit of prophecy, and by 
" revelation" was to direct the spiritual and temporal 
affairs of " his people." So step by step during the life 
of Smith, and through the reign of Brigham Young, 
the affairs of the Mormon church and people have been 
directed by " revelation." 

During the latter part of 1830 and the early part of 
1 83 1, nearly all the saints had departed from New York 
State and settled at Kirdand, Ohio, proselyting on their 
journey west. 

In June, 1 831, Joseph Smith, with a few chosen elders, 
vvere on the march to " Zion, which should never be 
moved," as Joseph had a revelation that Jackson county, 
Missouri, had been "solemnly dedicated to the Lord 
and His saints," and here they began to establish 
themselves. The early converts, Including the Smiths 
and friends, were " dispensing the gospel," while Joseph 



576 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Smith and Sidney Rigdon opened a bank, which soon 
failed. Among other active missionaries in the field 
was Samuel H. Smith, the brother of Joseph, whose 
ministrations " brought to the fold" the grandest apostle 
of them all in the person of Brigham Young, " Prophet, 
Priest, Seer, Revealer in all the world ; first President 
and Trustee-in-trust of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints," and late Governor of the Territory 
of Utah ; who, with his four brothers and six sisters, all 
embraced the new religion. 

The State of Vermont, the birthplace of Joseph 
Smith, also produced the great polygamist Brigham 
Young, who was born at Whittingham, Windham 
county, in that State, on the ist of June, 1801. Brig- 
ham, who was raised on a farm, had at an early age 
learned the painting and glazing business, which he fol- 
lowed until the rich field of Mormonism opened for his 
splendid talents as a ruler. 

With the growth of Mormonism, its leaders became 
bold and defiant, proclaiming themselves kings and 
rulers, before whom all others must bow, and that 
eventually they would drive all " disbelievers " out of 
the country. 

So violent and intemperate had become the leaders 
of the new religion, and so obnoxious had they rendered 
themselves to the people of Missouri, that, in the sum- 
mer of 1833, the inhabitants assembled at Independ- 
ence, the head-quarters of the Mormons, destroyed 
their newspaper ofiice, whipped, tarred and feathered 
some of the leaders, and after serious conflicts, in 
which some of the populace were slain in a hand-to- 
hand conflict, the Mormons retreated, evacuated Jack- 
son county, and headed west; and, on the nights of 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 577 

November 4 and 5, crossed the Missouri river into 
Clay county. After a brief sojourn at Liberty, Clay 
county, Missouri, in May, 1836, on warning of the 
people " to leave," they evacuated Clay county, and 
located jn the counties of Davis, Carroll, and Caldwell. 
The organization at Kirtland, Ohio, was still maintained. 
Joseph had marched with an army into Missouri to 
avenge the wrongs of his people, but the cholera over- 
took the prophet and his soldiers, and drove them from 
the field. Meantime Smith had finished an "inspired 
translation " of the Old Testament ; Brigham had re- 
ceived the "gift of tongues," and he and Heber C. 
Kimball, and others of "the twelve aposdes," in 1835, 
started from Kirtland on their missionary labors, adopt- 
ing the name of " Latter-day Saints," as the world was 
soon to be destroyed, and they would be the last saints 
of earth. Continuous conflicts between the saints and 
people of Missouri kept several counties of the State 
in war, and the disorders of dissenting saints kept the 
leaders in endless confusion and dread. As early as. 
June, foreign missions were organized, and Orson 
Hyde, H. C. Kimball, and W. Richards sent to Eng- 
land, where many converts were made. 

The seat of Mormonisiji was in confusion. Multi- 
plied crimes caused Governor Boggs to issue an order 
of banishment of the saints out of the State, "even if 
it was necessary to exterminate them." Smith and 
Rigdon were flying from the angry creditors of their 
decayed -bank, and Brigham Young, for participation in 
evils, was heading for Quincy, Illinois. Armed bands 
of Mormons were in the field, and the State militia of 
Missouri, under the call of the governor, had met and 
defeated the saints, and after their leaders had been 

37 



578 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

held to trial " for treason, murder, robbery, arson, and 
larceny," the whole Mormon community in Missouri, 
numbering more than twelve thousand, now headed for 
Illinois, and in January, 1839, settled at Ouincy, Adams 
county, and other parts of the State. By this time the 
" persecutions" of the Mormons gained them much 
sympathy as they wandered west, and, either through 
negligence or the desire of the people of Missouri to 
be relieved as easily as possible of the Mormon pris- 
oners, Smith and his associates escaped from their 
guards, and headed for Illinois ; and he and his people, 
on the nth of June, 1839, laid the foundations of their 
famous city of Nauvoo, in Hancock county, wherein 
great activity and zeal were manifested. A thriving 
city rose as if by magic, missionaries issued in every 
direction, and Brigham Young, as "president of the 
twelve apostles," had, in April, 1840, arrived in England, 
where great success attended the missionary efforts of 
"Latter-day Saints," who, early in the year 1841, led 
to their "Zion" in the wilderness nearly eight hundred 
English converts to the "faith." On October 3, 1840, 
the foundations of the great temple, which Joseph 
had spiritual command to erect, were laid, and Nauvoo 
attained an important position, and the " prophet" and 
his disciples assumed spiritual and temporal supervision 
of all with whom they came in contact, proclaiming the 
speedy conversion of the whole world to the " revealed 
religion of Mormon." 

The new religion and its followers, however, were 
doomed to further "persecution for the Lord's sake." 
The liberties of the saints had drawn to their circle 
hundreds of designing, vicious, and cunning rascals, 
who, playing upon the weak minds of the enthusiastic 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 579 

converts, led them into all manner of excesses and 
crimes against the "Gentiles," who finally, dreading 
the political influence of the sect, and the power of the 
"Nauvoo legion," rose and drove them from the land. 

The prophet had, in 1844, nominated himself for the 
Presidency of the United States, and his people had 
placed him as lieutenant-general at the head of the 
" Nauvoo legion." Courts and all local authority were 
controlled by the Mormons, and a political and social 
war waged against the " Gentiles ;" new orders of priestly 
functions and nobility were established, ending in the 
crowning and anointing of Joseph as king and high 
priest, and claiming his direct descent from Joseph, the 
son of Jacob. 

Plurality of wives had gradually crept into the order 
at Nauvoo, and Joseph and his elders reaped a rich 
harvest of spiritual wives from the fairest doves of 
their flocks. 

The final end of the prophet of the " revealed truth" 
was at hand. A number of Mormons, including Smith, 
had, on the 24th of June, 1844, been arrested, and were 
held in jail at Carthage, near Nauvoo. Soon, however, 
all except Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were 
released, but their offences appearing great they were 
held in custody. The political and military power of 
the Mormons had now become so great in the city of 
Nauvoo and vicinity, and their crimes so appalling, that 
the people had determined to take the law into their 
own hands, and avenge themselves. The most effective 
way to accomplish this, and to insure future security, 
they thought, was to strike at the fountain-head ; so the 
life of the prophet must atone the wrongs of his people. 
A band of citizens, diso-uised and armed, had entered 



580 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

into a conspiracy with the guard, so that easy access 
was had to the jail. About six o'clock on the morning 
of the 27th of June, 1844, this band forced open the 
prison doors, shot and killed Hyrum Smith instantly. 
Joseph, who was armed with a pistol, bravely defended 
himself, ascended to the upper part of the jail, and 
sprang from the window to the ground, receiving stun- 
ning injuries, and in his helpless condition was brutally 
murdered by being riddled by the balls from the guns 
of his assassins. 

Thus fell the great American prophet at the early 
age of thirty-nine years, full of spiritual and muscular 
strength, fair and comely, erect in his six feet of manly 
beauty — the proud commander of his sect and the 
admired of his " sisters in the Lord." 

The death of Joseph spread a pall of mourning over 
Nauvoo : the wives and people of the " founder of the 
faith" joined in sending lamentations to heaven for the 
slain king, upon whose head they placed the martyr's 
crown dyed in the blood of sacrifice. 

On the death of the prophet dissensions sprang up 
among his people, and the church and saints looked 
for " signs" of a leader. Joseph had a son named after 
himself, but it was said by the prophet that " the man 
was not born who was to lead this people." 

Many of the "saints" had revelations of special mis- 
sions and authority to succeed Joseph, but to no pur- 
pose. 

Brigham Young, who was at the head of the twelve 
apostles, at once took a leading position, and on the 
15th of August, 1844, an "encyclical letter to all the 
saints in the world" was issued by himself and his 
aposdes. On the 7th of October, a general council of 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 58 1 

the Mormons at Naiivoo decided to leave the govern- 
ment of the "church" with the "colleg-e of the twelve 
apostles," at the head of which was Brigham Young-. 
From this period dates the rule of the man who built 
up Nauvoo until It spread over an area of six square 
miles, with its magnificent temple, costing over a million 
dollars, and its ffteen tJumsand saints. 

Continued conflicts between the Mormons and the 
Gentiles, with charges of murder, arson, counterfeiting, 
and other crimes, aroused the people of Illinois ; and, 
warned by an approaching general uprising to exter- 
minate them, the whole Mormon people commenced 
the evacuation of their city and temple, and, bidding 
adieu to Nauvoo, In the winter of 1845-6, headed by 
Brigham Young and his fellow-apostles, turned their 
faces toward the great desert. In the direction of the 
setting sun. Fifteen thousand men, women, and children, 
with their sluggish ox-teams, numbering many thou- 
sands, plunged Into the dead of winter, experiencing 
untold miseries, privations, and death, wended their 
tedious journey over the precipitous mountains and arid 
plains, leaving the new-made graves of their fellows to 
mark their sad pilgrimage beyond the reach of per- 
secution. 

The Mormon leaders had no settled views of a per- 
manent location, further than that in some quarter of 
the Pacific coast they might find refuge from Gentile 
intolerance. Oreofon, Vancouver Island, the Sandwich 
islands, and the Spanish Territory of California were 
all looked to as suitable fields of retreat ; and, in the 
hope of reaching the latter Territory, five hundred 
Mormons joined the expedition of General Kearney, 
which left Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, in June, 



582 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

1S46, marching by way of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and 
the Gila, until it reached the coast of California. Many 
of these people finally settled in California ; and on the 
discovery of gold, in 1848, abandoned San Francisco 
and the lower country and went to the mines. 

In 1845, 3.nd while California was yet a Spanish 
colony, an expedition of saints was fitted out, and sailed 
in due time from the city of New York on board the 
ship Brooklyji. She made the voyage safely round 
Cape Horn, and first visited the Sandwich islands ; and 
finally, on the 31st of July, 1846, (twenty-four days 
after Commodore Sloat had hoisted the American flag 
over California,) entered the Bay of San Francisco, 
where the Mormons pitched their tents on the adjacent 
sand-hills, and, under the leadership of Samuel Bran- 
nan, a shrewd Maine Yankee, maintained an organiza- 
tion until the discovery of gold, in 1848; when the 
consequent fever infesting the whole camp, the saints, 
leader and all, started for the mines. This broke up 
the design of permanent settlement on the Pacific 
shores, west of the Sierras. 

During this period, the main body of the Mormons 
had collected near Omaha, where, under the executive 
talent of their new leader, they had consolidated their 
strength, and the people unanimously proclaimed that 
** the mantle of the prophet Joseph had fallen on the 
seer and revelator, Brigham Young." 

The object of the saints now was to reach the Pacific 
and join their brethren gone before them by sea. Presi- 
dent Young accordingly, at the head of the pioneer pil- 
grims, consisting of one hundred and forty-three men, 
with seventy wagons, left Omaha, on the 14th of April, 
1847; ^^^^) after a three months journey across the 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS.- 583 

trackless desert, on the 24th of July following, entered 
the valley of Great Salt lake. Here the saints pitched 
their tents, fully believing that in this most secluded 
and unfrequented region of the continent they might 
live unmolested for centuries. But the discovery of 
gold in California, in 1848, led the people of the East 
across the plains in vast numbers ; and the trail of the 
pioneer saints to their Jordan and Zion in the desert 
was made the highway of the vast emigrant trains and 
bands of gold-hunters, and Salt lake became the best 
known section of America west of the Missouri. 

The acquisition of California brought the Territory 
of Utah, then a part of California, under the dominion 
of the United States; a fact which the saints have been 
loath to learn, as from their first settlement they have 
had absolute social, religious, and political control of 
the country, in utter defiance of federal laws and the 
national constitution. 

As early as the 5th of March, 1849, ^^ Mormon 
leaders assumed sovereign dominion over their "Zion," 
by the meeting of a convention at Salt Lake City "of 
all the citizens of that portion of Upper California 
lying east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, to take 
into consideration the propriety of organizing a terri- 
torial or State o^overnment." The convention estab- 
lished the " free and independent State of Dcscret" 
elected State officers, and finally applied to Congress 
for admission as a State into the Union. Congress 
declined, however, to admit the new State ; but, on 
September 9, 1850, organized the Territory of Utah, 
President Fillmore appointing Brigham Young gov- 
ernor. From that period forward national authority 
has been completely ignored by the Mormons, until the 



584 ^^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

years 1 871-2, when the federal territorial officers, for 
the first time in the history of the Territory, seemed to 
comprehend that Utah was not a foreign nation, but 
was subject to the authority and laws of the United 
States. 

During- the rebellion of 1861— 5, active measures 
were adopted by the Mormon leaders, looking to the 
separation of Utah from the jurisdiction of the United 
States, and the establishing of an independent gov- 
ernment; while not a man, dollar, nor sign of in- 
terest or sympathy was offered to the national gov- 
ernment. Repeated efforts, from time to time, have 
been made to induce the Federal Cono^ress to admit 
Utah as a State, the last time being on the 18th of 
March, 1872, when an election was held, a constitution 
adopted. United States Senators elected, and the "State 
of Deseret" once more sought in vain admission into 
the Union. At the election in March, 1872, all the 
women in the Territory over twenty-one years of age, 
regardless of birthplace or nationality, voted. The 
Gentile population being so small a minority, did not 
offer any opposition, nor vote at this election. 

Brigham Young, who had ruled as a despot at the 
head of the Mormon church, had, by federal appoint- 
ment, held the office of territorial governor from 1850 
until the early part of 1858, when he was succeeded 
by Governor Gumming, who, with Colonel Albert 
Sidney Johnston, (late of the Confederate army,) led 
James Buchanan's " army of invasion " into Utah to 
quell the " Mormon rebellion," which had driven the 
federal officers from the Territory, and, under the lead- 
ership of Governor Brigham Young, had assumed 
alarming proportions ; and drew from the Mormon 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 585 

chief his famous edict, addressed to the commander of 
the federal forces sent into the Territory to enforce 
order : 

Governor's Office, Utah Territory, 
Great Salt Lake City, Septctnber 29, 1857. 

Sir: By reference to the act of Congress passed September 
9, 1850, organizing the Territory of Utah, published in a copy of 
the Laws of Utah, herewith, p. 146, chap. 7, you will find the 
following : 

Sec. 2. And be it farther enacted, That the executive power in 
and over said Territory of Utah shall be vested in a governor, who 
shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be 
appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of 
the United States. The governor shall reside within said Territory, 
shall be commander-in-chief of the militia thereof, &c., &:c. 

I am still the Governor, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for 
this Territory, no successor having been appointed and qualified, 
as provided by law, nor have I been removed by the President of 
the United States. 

By virtue of the authority thus vested in me, I have issued and 
forwarded you a copy of my proclamation forbidding the entrance 
of armed forces into this Territory. This you have disregarded. 
I now further direct that you retire forthwith from the Territory by 
the same route you entered. Should you deem this impracticable, 
and prefer to remain until spring in the vicinity of your present 
encampment. Black's Fork or Green river, you can do so in peace, 
and unniolested, on condition that you deposit your arms and 
ammunition with Lewis Robinson, Quarter-master General of the 
Territory, and leave in the spring as soon as the condition of the 
roads will permit you to march. And should you fall short of pro- 
visions, they can be furnished you by making the proper application 
therefor. 

General D. H. Wells will forward this, and receive any communi- 
cation you may have to make. 

Very respectfully, 

Brigham Young, 

Governor, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Utah Territory, 
To the Officer commandins; the Foi'ces 

Now invading Utah Territory. 



586 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The army still marched toward the city of the saints, 
causing a general " scare," and a stampede of one-half 
of the Mormon population toward the Colorado and 
Mexico. Finally, " peace commissioners" were ap- 
pointed, the "war" ended, and the Mormons returned 
to their city. 

Passing through various phases or social local dis- 
turbance of church and State, and continuously op- 
posing the authority of the national government, the 
Mormons have found themselves surrounded by an 
increasing population from all quarters of the republic, 
induced by recent railroad communication, curiosity, 
and the development of rich silver and other mines in 
the Territory. Until within a recent period the tem- 
poral and spiritual power of the American prophet and 
his people are fast running below zero ; and eventually 
must be frozen out in the pure atmosphere that chills 
concubinage and the incestuous pollutions of marriage 
to whole families. 

The Mormon leaders, dreading the influx of Gentiles, 
and the consequent danger to their long sway of polid- 
cal power, in 1870, resorted to the expedient of female 
suffrage ; and, by territorial enactment, at a single dash, 
added fifteen thousand to the Mormon " cause." By 
this law, every woman in the Territory, over twenty- 
one years of age, and all under that age, if married, 
vote at all elecdons. No naturalization laws of the 
nadon are applied to those women, three-quarters of 
whom are ignorant, superstitious foreigners. This is 
the only quarter of the republic enjoying (?) female 
suffrage ; and the spectacle of the polygamists on elec- 
tion day opening the doors of their harems and march- 
ing their wives to the polls is a strange contradiction 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 587 

and perversion of liberty. Brigham casts seventeen 
votes — his sixteen living wives and his own, to say 
nothing of the control over his ''interesting family T 

In 1852, to check the "licentious cohabitation" of 
anti-Mormons and the " lewd men of California," who 
sometimes found their way to the harems of the saints, 
a law was enacted by the territorial Legislature of 
Utah, with severe pains and penalties for " lewd and 
lascivious cohabitation," These statutes have now been' 
made to recoil against those who enacted them, suits 
having been commenced before the United States ter- 
ritorial judges by oppressed Mormon women against 
their truant lords, for over-indulgence in "wives;" and 
even Brigham, who, as Governor of the Territory, signed 
the law to keep the unrighteous feet of the invading 
Gentile from his domicile, found himself indicted by a 
grand jury and held in bonds to appear for trial, for the 
crime of ''lewd and lascivious cohabitationy Doubtless 
the prophet thought this a new " revelation." 

The Gentiles (all those who are not Mormons) in the 
Territory hold that all marriages with Mormons and 
their women are void, except with their first living wife ; 
while the Mormons hold that they are supported by 
the Christians' Bible itself in polygamy ; that marriage 
is a sacrament, the regulation of which is solely with the 
"church;" that they can have as many wives as they 
please, when their " religion" directs them ; that the 
■church alone can marry and divorce ; and that all acts 
of courts in these matters are usurpations, tyrannical 
and void. 

Trouble continued to accumulate with the saints in 
1870-1. The mystic circle of the "holy twelve 
aposdes" had been broken by the rude hand of the 



5 88 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

United States territorial marshal ; Brigham and apostle 
Daniel H. Wells had been arrested and held in bonds 
for trial for " raising a family," under indictments for 
lasciviousness ; and the murderous Bill Hickman came 
forth from his mountain retreat, "unbosomed" himself 
to the federal territorial officers, disclosing the partic- 
ipation of Brigham Young and his saints in the most 
revolting crimes and murders, revealing a sickening 
record of individual assassinations, and ending with the 
avowal that the direct orders of Brigham Young pre- 
ceded almost every murder of the terrible list of slain 
in Utah ; and that the Mountain Meadows massacre, 
where one hundred and thirty-two innocent immigrants 
— men, women, and children — were cruelly butchered 
in 1858, in Southern Utah, was by the authority of 
Young and his " apostles." On these confessions, and 
"other charges of crime by numerous witnesses, Brig- 
ham Young, Daniel H. Wells, Orson Hyde, Hosea 
Stout, and William Kimball, all saints, were accused. 
Some were arrested, while others fled, and Brigham, 
who had been held in heavy bonds to appear in court 
on charges of murder, fled to Southern Utah, but 
finally returned to Salt Lake City, where he was 
arrested early in 1872, and cast into prison to await 
his trial. 

The case of Young and his associates was, on appeal 
upon the irregularity and want of jurisdiction of the 
federal territorial court, carried to the Supreme Court 
of the United States, which held that the manner of 
drawing juries by the territorial courts from September 
20, 1870, to April, 1872, was illegal. By this decision, 
on the 25th of April, 1872, Brigham Young and four 
hundred other prisoners, including twenty-four charged 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 589 

with murder, were released. This event was the signal 
for new vows, and faith in the Divine interposition to 
release his saints and humiliate their persecutors. At 
the great annual conference held at Salt Lake City at 
this period more than twelve thousand disciples swelled 
the chorus in the great tabernacle, proclaiming the vic- 
tory of God and his saints, and giving new inspiration 
to the elders and bishops, a new batch of whom were 
despatched "with glad tidings" to the people of Europe. 
The social practices and religious dogmas of the 
Mormons are almost as romantic, singular, and ridicu- 
lous as the crimes of which they are accused are atro- 
cious and appalling. They claim to be Christians, but 
assert that all other Christian organizations have de- 
parted from the "true doctrine," having scarcely grace 
enough to become good Mormons, while the disciples 
of Joseph the prophet shall eventually, by the grace of 
God, subdue the whole races of men, lead them to sal- 
vation, and eventually rule over them as gods and 
kings in the land of their inheritance in the skies. The 
Bible they hold as the foundation of all their faith, 
giving it a literal interpretation; but that the Book of- 
Mormon, translated from the golden plates by their 
prophet, is an infallible and indispensable key to the 
mysteries of revelation and the kingdom of heaven. 
Souls, they say, existed from all time, and in invisible 
bodies float in vacancy, are caught by angels, and 
finally, from the cradles of the harems of the saints, 
are sent out in tanofible form as live Mormons to fulfil 
the Scriptures by multiplication and conversion of the 
"heathen," w^hich is the highest mission of the saints 
and the especial business of the Mormon women; for 
if, by missionary labors, a Mormon convert a dozen 



590 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

Gentiles, how much "glory must surround his head In 
the presence of his many wives and his many children." 
Surely here is a "gathering of spirits." 

In the eternity they hold there are many worlds and 
many gods, and that each world has a head god, and a 
son next in command, but that over all is one chief, 
who is the father of all the litde gods; and that he, too, 
"is the father of Jesus Christ in the only way known in 
nature, just as John Smith, senior, is the father of John 
Smith, junior." 

The theory of creation and of the Garden of Eden, 
as well as Darwin's " Descent of Man," giving the 
origin of our ancestors in oysters, slugs, and apes, are 
all rejected by the saints, who claim that "when the 
earth was prepared, there came from an upper world a 
son of God, with his beloved spouse, and thus a colony 
from heaven, it may be from the sun, was transplanted 
on our soil." This theory is synonymous with the view 
recently promulgated by the learned professor in Edin- 
burgh, Scotland, who declares that there are no germs 
of human creative life on our globe, and that, after 
"careful study of the subject of creation and the race," 
he concludes that our ancestors came from some of the 
globes above us, and made their terrestrial descent upon 
an areolite. It is not mentioned whether other emi- 
grants are to follow, or whether the sudden contact of 
the metal aerial horse with the earth grave the riders a 
vivid and unpleasant realization of terra firma. Doubt- 
less the Mormon theory is as correct as any other ver- 
sion of this subject, and any of the others are as correct 
as that of the Mormon view. 

Mormons and the few others who may reach heaven 
arc to appear "in the flesh," and, surrounded by their 



|llili|ii i|iiiH,i|iiila. 



;^ ^ ^ A I- ^itfBV ^ 




///' 



f 



ivlH4ll||!l^|,,ft|,l'|l'Ml|iL:l;yHi:il,,:|t 



MORMON ISM AND THE MORMONS. 59 1 

wives and children, sing perpetually to their prophet. 
Baptism by immersion is a sacrament. Brigham him- 
self has been twice in the " plunge," and the sins of all 
converts are floated on the "waters of regeneration;" 
and upon the appearance of an influx of Gentile immi- 
grants, lascivious men from California, or grasshoppers, 
all saints that are considered " shaky " get a dip. 

The composition and order of the "godhead" are 
Eloheim, Jehovah, Adam, Christ, and Joseph Smith. 
From this " head centre" issue the inspirational light 
that led the saints from New York to Nauvoo, and 
thence to the " promised land" in the vicinity of Great 
Salt lake. 

A plentiful supply of prophecy, power of the Holy 
Ghost, inspiration, gospels, signs, wonders, mystic powers, 
visions, faith, atonement, regeneration, spirits, angels, 
saints, revelations, testimony, healing by laying on of 
hands, anointments, holy oils, patriarchs, remissions, bish- 
ops, teacJiers, evangelists, purgations, ascensions, descen- 
sions, dreams, callings, priesthoods, sacraments, orders, 
progressions, gifts of tongues, consecrations, and miracles 
are woven through the doctrines of the Mormon faith 
to render it palatable to the most visionary of mortals, 
while the practical workings of polygamy have strong 
attractions for the more materialistic. Christ, the Mor- 
mons say, was but a man as others, having in his brief 
lifetime set his followers the injunction of multiplication 
by having five wives himself, among whom were Mary 
and Martha. 

Polygamy at first was not a part of the Mormon 
faith. Joseph did not find any revelation of its neces- 
sity on the golden plates, and in the Book of Mormon 
such a practice is fiercely denounced. In the second 



592 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

chapter of the work is found a warning to the 
Nephltes : 

'' But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. 
For this people begin to wax in iniquity ; they understand not the 
Scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whore- 
doms because of the things that were written concerning David and 
Solomon, his son. They, truly, had many wives and concubines, 
which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, 
hearken unto the word of the Lord, for there shall not any man 
among you have save it be one wife, and concubines he shall have, 
none; for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of woman." 

* With the Mormons, as with other mortals, even pro- 
phecies and revelations are controlled or altered by 
circumstances ; so, while at Nauvoo, the increase of 
beautiful young women so inspired Joseph, Brigham, 
and other saints, that a new revelation was deemed 
necessary. The prophet sought it and it came, fully 
denying the injunction in the Book of Mormon, and 
going back to the harems of " the servants of the Lord" 
for a justification of concubinage and incest. Joseph 
received the new revelation at Nauvoo, on the 12th of 
July, 1843; ^^^ iri the Deseret News extra, of the 14th 
of September, 1852, at Salt Lake City, it was first pub- 
licly proclaimed to the " people ;" the bishops and 
elders having first selected the fairest of their flocks 
for their own use. 

The " revelation" in part reads : 

"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that 
inasmuch as you have inquired at my hands to know wherein I, the 
Lord, justified my servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also 
Moses, David, and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle 
and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines; behold 
and lo, I am the Lord, and will answer thee as touching this 
matter." 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 593 

*' And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood, if any 
man espouse a virgin and desires to espouse another, and the first 
give her consent, and if he espouse the second and they are virgins 
and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified ; he cannot 
commit adultery, for they are given unto him ; for he cannot com- 
mit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to none else : 
and if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot 
commit adultery, for they belong to him and are given unto him; 
therefore is he justified. They are given unto him to multiply and 
replenish the earth according to my commandment, and to fulfil the 
promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the 
world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may 
bear the souls of men, for herein is the work of my Father continued • 
that he may be glorified." 

Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph, is commanded, 
under dire penalties from the Lord, to receive kindly 
to her bosom all the wives that Joseph may have given 
unto him, and the Mormon women generally are ad- 
vised of God's impending wrath if they reject the wife- 
offerings he gives to his saints ; and to fully provide 
against emergencies and be ready for any change that; 
may be desirable, the spirit tells the prophet of further 
revelations, concluding : 

** And now, as pertaining unto this law, verily, verily, I say unto 
you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter ; therefore, let this suffice 
for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amenl" 

In the " new revelation," provision is made for 
•' spiritual wives" for the saints, so that the " apostles," 
elders, and others of the church may .fi?^/ unto them- 
selves the wives of others as spirit2ial\^\.ves for eternity; 
so that in the land where the " streets are paved with 
gold" and Mormons ^vq gods, the wife is not necessa- 
rily obliged to associate with \\Q.r poor husband of earth, 
but can select her company while here, provided she 



594 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

avoid the "lascivious men of California" and choose a 
faithful saint. Virgins also can, before marriage, select 
their heavenly mate by sealing on earth. 

On the first mention of the new doctrine of polygamy, 
in 1843, '^'^ caused great commotion, and many rebelled 
against it A few elders attempted to promulgate the 
revelation, but so fierce was the opposition that, while 
Joseph and a few of his leaders held a monopoly of the 
" new law," he made public proclamation against it in 
the church paper, the Times and Seasons, published at 
Nauvoo, as follows : 

NOTICE. 

As we have lately been credibly informed that an elder of the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by the name of Hiram 
Brown, has been preaching polygamy and other false and corrupt 
doctrines in the county of Lapeer and State of Michigan, 

This is to notify him and the church in general that he has 
been cut off from the church for his iniquity, and he is further noti- 
fied to appear at the special conference on the 6th of April next, to 
make answer to these charges. 

Joseph Smith, 

Hyrum Smith, 

Presidents of the Church. 

This proclamation satisfied the "common people," 
and suited particularly the European missionaries, who 
took good care to give it publicity. Meantime, Young 
and his elders had stocked their harems with the choice 
doves of their flocks. 

Mary Ann Angell Young, the second wife of Brig- 
ham, (he was a widower with two children when he 
joined the church,) who now lives in separate quarters 
at Salt Lake City, soon found herself surrounded by 
the increasing wives of her husband, and this too, while 



MORMOXIS.V AND THE MORMONS. 



595 



polygamy was publicly proclaimed " the work of the 
devil." Lucy Decker Seely, the divorced wife of Dr. 
Seely, was the second (or first polygamous) wife, soon 
followed by Harriet Cook, who gave birth to the first 
offspring of polygamy — Oscar Young. Clara Decker, 
Clara Chase, Lucy Bigelow, Harriet Bowker, Harriet 
Barry, and the charmmg Emeline Free, so long the 
favorite of the " president," were all soon added to the 
harem ; Emeline in turn being succeeded among others 
by Amelia Folsom, Brigham's present centre of affec- 
tion. 

Brigham Young, who for the past twenty-eight years 
has ruled as a king at the head of Church and State in 
Utah, has practically fulfilled the injunction to " in- 
crease and multiply." His children are counted by 
scores, and they and his wives, spiritual and te7nporal^ 
may never be fully discovered until the division of the 
property of the dead president enters the courts. 

Marriages in Mormondom are not publically pro- 
claimed: no license is necessary, and all unions are 
" solemnized " at the " Endowment House," in the 
presence of a few friends only. 

Brigham, who was born on the ist of June, 1801, 
and was consequently seventy-one years of age on the 
1st of June, 1872, had, up to that period, twenty-four 
wives, (sixteen of whom were living,) and fifty-four 
spiritual wives sealed to him " for eternity." 

Among the wives of Brigham, as among those of 
many of the saints, are instances of three or four 
sisters all married to the same man, and mothers and 
daughters, in pairs and triplets, joining to one husband 
m the same house, and a grandmother, mother, and 
child all wives of one man. 



cq5 the golden state. 

The late Heber C. Kimball, who so long stood next 
in authority to Young, fulfilled well his earthly mission, 
leaving seventeen widows to "mourn his loss," and 
innumerable children to his " inheritance," besides 
" spiritual wives for eternity." 

All the " apostles," as well as nearly all the Mormon 
"brethren," embrace polygamy; and they and their 
children in their footsteps have jumbled the laws of 
consanguinity beyond the hope of solution. 

The marrying of brothers and sisters, at least of the 
half-blood, has been permitted ; and innumerable in- 
stances of marriages with nieces and other close blood- 
relations are constantly occurring. Two of the daugh- 
ters of Brigham Young are married to H. B. Clawson, 
a prominent saint, and but recently the aggregate 
wives of five Mormons numbered seventy, and their off- 
spring one himdred and fifty. 

The doctrines of Mormonism, as given by " Joseph 
the prophet," are as follows : 

"We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus 
Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 

**We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and 
not for Adam's transgression. 

"We believe that through atonement of Christ all mankind may 
be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. 

"We believe that these ordinances are: First, Faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ ; Second, Repentance ; Third, Baptism by immersion 
for the remission of sins ; Fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. 

"We believe that a man must be called of God by 'prophecy 
and by laying on of hands,' by those who are in authority to preach 
the gospel and administer the ordinances thereof. 

"We believe in the same organization that existed in the primi- 
tive church, viz. : apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, 
&c. 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 597 

**We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, 
healing, interpretation of tongues, &c. 

" We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is trans- 
lated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the 
word of God. 

"We believe all God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, 
and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important 
things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 

" We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restora- 
tion of the ten tribes; that Zion will be built upon this continent; 
that Christ will reign personally on the earth, and that the earth 
will be renewed in its paradisiac glory. 

"We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according 
to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same 
privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 

"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magis- 
trates ; in obeying, honoring, and sustaining law. 

" We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, 
and in doing good to all men. Indeed, we may say that we follow 
the admonition of Paul : *Ave believe all things; we hope all things;' 
we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all 
things. If there is any thing virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or 
praiseworthy, we seek after these things." 

How closely ih^ pi'actices of the "Latter-day Saints" 
comport with the " inspired doctrines" may well be 
known by the dark catalogue of crime on the court 
records of Utah against the " head of the church," his 
apostles and followers, and the misery and social dis- 
order of the harems. 

In American polygamy, as in the East, women are 
generally regarded little better than slaves ; herded as 
they are, in Young's and Kimball's and other establish- 
ments, by scores, giving birth to children whose fadiers 
are claimed as Jmsbajid in such infinitesimal parts that 
love and the kindred accompaniments of the household 
are mythical illusions, leaving the hearth of home a 



598 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

barren waste, and the heart of woman an empty sepul- 
chre, where the light of love never casts a ray to dispel 
the eternal eclipse, in whose unholy shadow the canker- 
worm of jealousy and the pangs of despair gnaw their 
victims to the grave. 

If the sullen, dreamy apathy of the Mormon women, 
looking with wild distrust upon husbands claimed by 
others, and wincing under unprovoked neglect, or 
the display of hypocritical affection to associates by 
their lord ; the unwelcome proclamation of the birth of 
the child of their associate in fractional wedlock ; and 
the pangs and gloom to which their imprisoned and 
impoverished love is bound as it struggles through the 
night of absolute despair — if these things be "joy and 
gladness," and "woman's highest mission," by what 
name shall we call the ordered laws that centres one 
woman's love to the heart of one affectionate and con- 
fiding husband, where the mutual love and parental 
joys are lighted anew in the innocent faces proclaiming 
the unity of souls in the " twain flesh made one ?" 

Society, as it is known in other parts of America, is 
entirely unknown in Utah. There is but little inter- 
course between Mormon families. Even in the city of 
Salt Lake, where an elegant theatre is maintained, it 
is patronized chiefly by Gentiles and apostate Mormons. 
Visiting among women and evening entertainments are 
rare, and Gentile men are excluded from all intercourse 
with the wives and daughters of the saints. 

On the Sabbath the harems let loose their flocks, 
who file in solemn procession to the tabernacle, to 
listen to the prophecies of Joseph, and the laws of 
•' Increase," as expounded by the " elders of the Lord." 

In Salt Lake City, a few leading Mormons who have 



MORMONISM AND THE MORMONS. 



599 



means maintain spacious establishments, where their 
wives and famiHes live in comparative comfort. But as 
the great body of the people are poor, a man often finds 
it burdensome to support five, eight, or ten wives, so 
the women soon find that they have to rely upon their 
own industry for their bread. Dress, fashion, and the 
filigrees of modern city women are unknown among 
Mormon wives. Plain dressing, plain food, hard work, 
obedience, baptism, and child-bearing are the pleasures 
and duties of Mormon women. 

Of late years, the influx of Gentiles, railroad inter- 
course and enterprise in the Territory have somewhat 
changed the position of the young Mormon females, 
many of whom decline to enter the harems, and leave 
the country, seeking homes and protection in Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, and Nevada, and other sections, much 
to the displeasure of the bishops and elders. 

The solution of the " Mormon question " still dis- 
tracts the country. Utah as a State, with an anti-Mor- 
mon majority, could soon exterminate polygamy. As 
a Territory, with Mormon juries, no punishment can 
be imposed on Mormon offenders. A few years, how- 
ever, at most, will give Utah an anti-Mormon majority, 
when Mormonism, now embraced by about eighty 
thousand in Europe and America, will be weeded out 
of Utah, and eventually be known only as a thing 
of the past. 



600 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

ARIZONA TERRITORY. 

Area and population — Climate — Soil — Mountains — Rivers — Forests 
— Mines — Mining — Minerals — Settlement — Civilization — Rail- 
roads — Indians. 

The Territory of Arizona is situated in the semi- 
tropical region lying directly east of California and 
west of Mexico, and is bounded on the south by the 
Republic of Mexico, east by New Mexico, north by 
Utah, and west by the Colorado river, which forms the 
boundary between the extreme southeastern corner of 
California and the northwestern part of Arizona. 

This Territory, which embraces an area of 126,140 
square miles, was acquired from the Republic of 
Mexico by the conquest of California, and the " Gads- 
den Purchase ;" and by act of Congress of the 24th 
of February, 1863, was organized with a territorial 
government, with the capital at Tucson. 

In 1870, the population of this Territory, exclusive 
of Indians, was but 9,658 ; of whom but 3,849 were 
native born, and 5,809 were foreigners. The pre- 
ponderance of foreigners is owing to the fact of the 
large numbers of Mexicans in the country. There 
were at this period but twenty-six colored people and 
twenty Chinese in this Territory. 

The climate of Arizona is exceedingly dry in its 
western division, and in the section adjoining the River 
Colorado ; and in many portions of the interior the 
heat of summer is intense, it often reaching one hun- 



C 1/ (!) "> 




ARIZONA TERRITORY. 6oi 

dred and twenty degrees in the shade, at which it will 
continue for many days in succession. Winter in these 
quarters is almost unknown, and, except upon the high 
mountains, snow never falls ; but in the northern and 
eastern portion of the Territory the mountains are 
clad with snow perpetually ; throughout the valleys 
and low hills snow and frost are unknown, and the 
climate of the Territory may be called perpetual sum- 
mer. The rainfall in the western part of Arizona does 
not exceed four inches per annum ; but, throughout 
the central and eastern division, sufficient rain falls 
for agricultural purposes. 

The physical character of the country is rugged in 
the extreme, and large areas of mountain and alkaline 
deserts are unfit for cultivation. In many portions 
large grazing-ranges exist, and there are innumerable 
rich and fertile valleys, well adapted to agricultural 
pursuits, and where many of the tropical and all the 
semi-tropical fruits grow abundantly. 

Owing to the sparse population and the continuous 
excitement in the Territory about mines, but little has 
been done in developing the agricultural resources of 
the country ; but the richness of the soil, the wide and 
excellent pasture-ranges, and the mildness of the cli- 
mate, all tend to make this Territory a very desirable 
field for the immigrant and the employment of labor 
and capital. 

Many portions of the country are but poorly watered; 
but vast areas are supplied with abundance of water 
from the innumerable branches of the Colorado and 
Gila, the two principal rivers in the Territory. The 
Gila, flowing from east to west in a vast body, empties 



602 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

into the Colorado near a point where the boundary of 
California, Arizona, and the Republic of Mexico join on 
the Colorado. From this point, both the Gila and Colo- 
rado rivers flow in one mighty current to the Gulf of 
California, and through these waters reach the Pacific 
ocean. 

The Colorado river, having its source in the Rocky 
mountains, courses southwestward through Wyoming, 
Utah, and the northwest corner of Arizona, forming the 
western boundary of the latter Territory. This vast 
river (often interrupted in its course of more than one 
thousand miles from its source to the sea) is navigable 
for steamers of large size for a considerable distance 
from the Gulf of California, and upon its upper waters 
to steamers of light draught. 

Forests of considerable extent exist in many parts of 
the country, and the scenery is generally picturesque, 
many of the hill-sides being covered with a dense 
growth of small trees ; so that, amidst forests, dashing 
cascades, bald mountains, and snow-clad peaks, many 
sections of Arizona present unsurpassed scenes of 
natural beauty. 

As yet the great resources of this Territory are un- 
developed. The hardy miner has, however, established 
the fact that mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, and 
iron of great extent and richness abound throug-hout 
the whole country. Not only are these metals found 
in the bowels of the earth, but mouniai7is of lead, 
copper, iron, sulphur, and salt rear their heads, con- 
fronting the explorer on every side, and impressing him 
with the vast wealth of this almost unexplored region, 
destined to become at some future period the centre of 



ARIZONA TERRITORY. 603 

civilized society, and a prosperous State in the Ameri- 
can Union. 

The annual product of the precious metals in Ari- 
zona, even with its scant population and great disad- 
vantages, is about $1,500,000; but, by the application 
of machinery and well-directed efforts to develop her 
mineral resources, there is no reason why Arizona 
should not yet equal in her mineral productions the 
greatest yield of California in her best days. 

Trade with Arizona has been carried on chiefly with 
California. Nearly all the supplies — provisions, mer- 
chandise, and machinery — used in the Territory go from 
San Francisco either to San Diego, thence across the 
country by teams to the Colorado, or by steamers and 
sailing vessels up the Gulf of California and the waters 
of the Colorado, thence to the interior. A line of rail- 
road, (the Southern Pacific,) projected from San Diego, 
California, intended to run in an easterly and westerly 
direction, crossing the Colorado, and passing through 
the extreme southern part of Arizona, New Mexico, 
Texas, and Arkansas, crosses the Mississippi at Mem- 
phis, making connection with the whole Atlantic coast, 
and thence to the Atlantic seaboard; and another road 
— the Atlantic and Pacific, or 35th parallel railroad — 
projected farther north in California, and intended to 
pass directly through the centre of Arizona, New 
Mexico, Indian Territory, and Missouri, crossing the 
Missouri at St. Louis, and passing on in an easterly 
direcdon to the Atlantic States, will, when completed, 
so develop the great natural wealth of this almost un- 
known region that it must attract a large share of the 
immigration of the country, and become the centre of 



604 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

great mining activity. Both roads are now being vig- 
orously pushed, and but a few years will elapse before 
two southern through railroads from ocean to ocean 
will bring this beautiful region of country a prosperous 
State in the Union. 

The Territory, with all its drawbacks, is struggling for 
the development of its resources and the establishment 
of civilization. Tucson, the capital, Tubac, Arizona 
City La Paz, and Prescott, the principal towns, show 
signs of enterprise and refinement. Schools, churches, 
and the printing-press assert their dominion, and soon 
will the murderous scenes of the forest savage give 
way to the pursuits of industry and the laws of civiliza- 
tion. Already there are three newspapers published 
in Arizona — one at Tucson, one at Prescott, and one at 
Arizona City. 

Arizona is the paradise of the red man. Here for 
hundreds of thousands of years (for aught we know) 
he has angled in its streams, hunted in its glens, roamed 
over its valleys, lurked in its forests and deep canons, 
listened to the wild roar and watched the maddened 
leap of its cataracts; here he listened to the traditions 
of his fathers, and buried the bones of his ancestors ; 
and here, with a pertinacity worthy of a better cause, 
he holds on to the huntincr-Qfrounds of his fathers; here 
the Mojave, Yavapai, Pima, Ytmia, and the murderous 
Apache whet their knives and raise the bloody toma- 
hawk for the scalp of the "pale face," and exhibit such 
fierce resolution and brutality to hold on to the expiring 
embers of primitive barbarous life and the last hunting- 
grounds and the last natural rights of a once numerous 
and powerful but fast-expiring race, whose history, from 





APACHE SQUAW SCALP DANCE, ARIZONA. 




SHoo'nX^; Mi>I-Nl\I\ SHIM' IN THE RiK'KY MOUNTAINS. 




Indian's gamblinc;, 



ARIZONA TERRITORY. 605 

the landing of the Pilgrims to the present hour, has 
filled our records with chapters of blood and scenes of 
most revolting barbarity, making the extinction of the 
aboriofines a desired consummation. 

The Apache tribe of Indians in Arizona are the 
most warlike and fierce enemy of the white man of all 
the races on the continent. Their " braves" are power- 
fully built, active, muscular, daring, and savage as a 
gorilla. All efforts yet made to reconcile these savages 
to fellowship with their white brethren have been in 
vain. They are still numerous and powerful, defying 
the feeble efforts of humanitarian and soldier alike. 
The mild climate, abundance of game, and the fleet 
ponies upon which they are mounted, the deep forests, 
dark ravines, and gulches, whose winding ways are 
known only to the Apaches, enable them from their 
places of security to pounce like wild beasts upon immi- 
grant, miner, or soldier alike. 

So determined are these savages to drive the whites 
out of their country, and in such dread do the people 
hold the poison-arrow, scalplng-knife, and tomahawk 
of these " red devils," that mines of fabulous richness, 
rich farming and grazing lands alike, are all abandoned ; 
and, despite of a few feeble military posts in the Terri- 
tory, the Apache still holds sway, and the power of life 
and death even of the military forces. But alas ! for 
the red man, his days in our land are numbered, and 
the sands of his time fast leave an empty glass in which 
his shadow is but dimly reflected. Railroads and " civil- 
ization" have, from Maine to Oregon, sealed his fate ; 
his canoe lies stranded upon the shores of the great 
lakes; his bow and arrows hang upon the forest trees; 



6o6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

his tomahawk rests upon the ground; his hunting- 
grounds wave in rustling corn; his war-whoop dies 
upon the passing breeze, to be answered by the shrill 
whistle of the iron courser, whose fiery breath proclaims 
the departure of a past race to its eternal hunting- 
grounds. 

" Lo ! the poor Indian !" he has left no written lan- 
guage, no laws, customs, arts, nor architecture to per- 
petuate his memory ; his stone-axe, poison-arrow, and 
bloody record proclaim for a brief period his fierce 
career; while his euphonious names, like jewels of 
antiquity, cling to our lakes, rivers, and mountains, to 
recall to the future historian the existence of a race 
whose origin is a mystery, whose career and extinction 
are not unalloyed with romance and incomprehensible 
fatality. 



IDAHO TERRITORY. 607 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

IDAHO TERRITORY. 

Area — Geography — Mountains — Rivers — Forests — Lakes — Scenery 
— Waterfalls — Valleys — Agriculture — Climate — Indians — Gold 
and silver mines — Material progress — Railroads — Cities and towns 
— Population. 

The Territory of Idaho embraces an area of 90,932 
square miles. It was formerly embraced within the 
Territory of Oregon, and more recently within the area 
of Washington Territory; and was, in 1863, with its 
present limits, organized with a territorial government 
by act of Congress. The Territory in length, from the 
northern line of the State of Nevada to British Colum- 
bia in the north, running the whole length of Oregon 
and Washington Territories, is about five hundred 
miles. At its northern end it is narrowed to about 
fifty miles, lying between the western slope of the Rocky 
mountains and Washington Territory on the west. 
From this point, extending south until it reaches its 
southern boundary, it gradually widens, until it finally 
attains a width of three hundred miles. 

Idaho is bounded on the west by Oregon and Wash- 
ington Territory, north by British Columbia, east by the 
Rocky mountains and Wyoming Territory, south by 
Nevada and Utah; the crest of the Rocky mountains 
forming the entire eastern line, leaving the whole of 
this Territory west of that range of mountains. 

The surface of Idaho is a succession of lofty moun- 
tain chains, rugged hills, alkaline and volcanic flats, 
rolling pasture-ranges, and numerous fertile valleys. 
The Territory is well supplied with water by several 



6o8 "^HE GOLDEN STATE. 

rivers of magnitude, and innumerable dashing streams, 
fed by the eternal snow of the mountains. The chief 
river in Idaho is the Snake, sometimes known as Lewis 
river ; having its source in the western slope of the 
Rocky mountains, and coursing in a westerly direction 
across the entire width of the southern part of the Ter- 
ritory, a distance of more than three hundred miles, 
until it reaches the eastern boundary of Oregon, where 
it turns directly north, and for a distance of two hun- 
dred miles forms the line between Oregon and Idaho. 
A few miles north of this point, at the city of Lewiston, 
where the Territories of Washino-ton and Idaho are 
divided by this stream, it turns directly west, and for 
one hundred additional miles keeps this course, until 
near Wallula, in Washington Territory, it empties into 
the main Columbia, and is carried to the Pacific ocean. 
The Snake river, in its circuitous passage from the 
Rocky mountains to Lewiston, runs through a great 
variety of country — sandy desert, elevated table-land, 
rich valleys, deep canons and gorges; and often cutting 
through and leaping over high mountains, creating in 
its passage impassable and lovely cascades and falls of 
great magnitude and beauty. The Shoshone falls, in 
the southern portion of the Territory, but thirty-five 
miles north of the point where Utah and Nevada join 
upon the southern line of Idaho, and one hundred and 
fifty miles from the western line of Wyoming Territory, 
is surpassed only in magnitude by Niagara and the 
Yosemite. The Great Shoshone has an uninterrupted 
descent of two hundred feet, pouring its mighty flood 
below, presenting a scene of unsurpassed beauty, and 
cuts oft" the further passage of the salmon, which abound 
in all the waters from this point to the Pacific ocean. 



IDAHO TERRITORY. 609 

From the Columbia to Lewiston, one hundrea miles, 
the Snake river is navigated by steamers ; but beyond 
this point, owing to the numerous falls and rapids, 
there is no navigation. Innumerable branches of the 
Snake river intersect the whole country upon both 
sides of the main stream. 

In the extreme northern corner of Idaho is Clarke's 
Fork, a branch of the Columbia river, of p^reat mag^ni- 
tude, in its course passing through Lake Pen d'Orellie, 
twenty-two miles in length and six miles in width. 
Forty miles south of this lake, and near the line of 
Washington Territory, the Spokan river, a branch of 
the Columbia, enters and passes through Lake Coeur 
d' Aline, twenty-five miles in length and five miles in 
width. There are several lakes of less mao^nitude 
than the two here named in the Territory, and many 
streams of great volume and beauty. 

Forests of considerable magnitude, in which a great 
variety of valuable timber grows, are found ; and there 
are large areas of grazing and agricultural lands. 
Boise, Wieser, Payette, Camas, and other valleys, con- 
tain hundreds of thousands of acres .of superior land ; 
and Bear Lake valley, in the extreme southeast corner 
of the Territory and close to the line of Utah Terri- 
tory, and in which there is a Mormon settlement of five 
thousand people in a prosperous condition, is one of the 
richest agricultural districts on the Pacific coast. The 
climate is mild, and the soil rich beyond comparison. 
In this fertile valley are situated Bear lake, and the Bear 
river, a stream of considerable size, coursing through 
Bear valley in a circle, and finally emptying into Great 
Salt lake in Utah. 

Monument, a station on the Central Pacific overland 
39 



6lO THE GOLDEN STATE. 

railroad, at the northern end of Great Salt lake, is but 
twenty miles from the southern line of Idaho, near 
Bear valley, and from this and other points of this 
road travellers entering the southern portion of the 
Territory will find the easiest and shortest route. To 
reach the northern portion of the Territory from the 
Pacific side, passage can be made by the waters of the 
Columbia and Snake rivers, or by a journey overland 
throuofh Oreofon. 

The climate of Idaho in the northern section in 
winter is cold, and snow of great depth falls, and frost 
is severe in the mountains ; but the cold of winter is 
much less than the cold in the same latitude east of the 
Rocky mountains. There are wide pasture-ranges in the 
Territory, and cattle, horses, and sheep in great num- 
bers are driven toward the south, where they graze all 
winter upon the bunch grass and rich foliage of South- 
ern Idaho ; indeed, even in the northern part, cattle 
are rarely housed in winter. Summer in Idaho is de- 
lightful. The extreme heat of the Atlantic States is 
not experienced, and the evenings are cool and the 
general temperature bracing and charming. In the for- 
ests wild game is abundant, and the principal streams 
abound with salmon, trout, and other fish. 

The red men, although still found in the country in 
considerable numbers, are neither numerous nor war- 
like, and, as in most parts of the West, having spent their 
fury, are slowly passing away to the shades of oblivion. 

So far, mining is the chief business of the Territory, 
and, like the whole range west of the Rocky mountains, 
gold, silver, and other minerals are found in most of 
tlie mountain ranges, and many mines are worked with 
vigor and with great profit. The annual yield of gold 




COUNCIL WITH FRIENDLY NEZ PERCES INDIANS, IDAHO. 




EMIGRANTS FORDING THE SNAKE RIVER. 



IDAHO TERRITORY. 6ll 

and silver in Idaho Is about |;8,ooo,ooo — one-diird as 
much as the annual yield of California at the present 
period. Many other metals besides gold and silver 
have been discovered, but, as yet, have been but litde 
developed. Gold was first discovered in Idaho in 1852, 
about the banks of the Pen d'Orellie river, but attracted 
litde attendon. The discovery of the Oro Fino mines, 
in i860, awakened great interest, and drew a large 
number of gold-hunters from California and Oregon to- 
ward the then almost unexplored region of Idaho. Since 
that time forward, settlement has gone steadily on, and 
a degree of prosperity highly creditable to the pioneers 
and sparse population of this heretofore remote and 
inaccessible region has been attained. Idaho, under 
the stimulus of the industry of her people, her great 
natural resources, as well in agriculture, grazing, and 
lumber as in mines of s^old and silver, is fast attaininir 
importance. Each year the capacity of the soil for 
producing wheat, oats, barley, vegetables, and fruit of 
almost every variety is becoming understood ; and 
blooming orchards, waving fields of wheat — the latter 
producing from three to five times as many bushels to 
the acre as does Illinois, Virginia, or Tennessee — and 
wide and luxuriant pasture-ranges swarming with fat 
cattle, attest the capacity of the soil, and give hope of 
a future vigorous and prosperous State. 

The Northern Pacific railroad, now being built from 
Lake Superior to Puget sound, will pass through a great 
portion of this Territory, and materially develop its 
resources and increase its population; and the projected 
Canadian Pacific road, from Canada to British Columbia, 
when constructed, will be tributary to this and all the 
American territory immediately south of that line. 



6l2 THE GOLDEN STATE, 

Several towns of some importance have sprung up 
in Idaho. Among the principal ones are Lewiston and 
Idaho City, the latter with a population of 889, Silver 
City, with 599, and the territorial capital, Boise City, 
with 995. This city is situated in the southwestern 
corner of Idaho, one hundred ahd ten miles north of the 
southern line, and sixty miles directly east from where 
the western boundary joins the State of Oregon. 

The progress made in quartz-mining has been con- 
siderable. .There are now thirty quartz-mills in opera- 
tion ; and twenty-five saw-mills and ten flouring mills. 
Churches, schools, and theatres are maintained. Four 
newspapers are published in Idaho, and the territorial 
and Supreme Court libraries, at Boise City, contain 
an aggregate of fifteen thousand books. 

Idaho, like many of the Territories of the United 
States, presents the somewhat remarkable condition of 
a preponderating element of foreigners in her popula- 
tion. The census of 1870 shows the entire population 
of the Territory to have been 14,999; of whom 7,114 
were native and 7,885 were of foreign birth. Of the 
aggregate population, 10,618 were white and sixty 
colored, besides 4,274 Chinese. The Chinese in this 
Territory, as in every section of the republic west of 
the Rocky mountains, push their way into every por- 
tion, however remote ; establishing their wash-houses, 
engaging as laborers, servants, and miners, and, while 
oblivious to latitude, language, laws, and customs, seem 
to fully comprehend the value of the charmer, gold^ 
whose glitter brought them over deep seas and desolate 
plains and into the fastnesses of the great American 
deserts. 



Ik-.' IP'*' 




WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 6lJ 

CHAPTER XXXVII: 

WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 

History, area, and population — Boundary — Geography — Mountains 
— Lakes — Rivers — Bays — Harbors — Seasons — Climate — Agricul- 
ture — Grazing — Forests — Lumber — Commerce — Fish — Game — 
Natives — Gold, silver, coal, and other mines — Progress — 
Railroads. 

Washington Territory was, until 1853, a part of 
the Territory of Oregon, at which time it was by act 
of Congress erected into a separate Territory, with 
an eraa of 69,994 square miles This Territory is the 
extreme western portion of the United States south 
of British Columbia, and possesses the greatest extent 
of navigable waters of any State or Territory in the 
republic. Passing through the centre of the Territory, 
from north to south and from east to west on its eastern 
boundary, are one thousand miles of the Columbia 
river ; and on its western shore are five hundred miles 
of the Pacific ocean, and within the circle of its great 
harbor — the inland sea, Puget sound — including islands, 
are three thousand one hundred miles of shore line, all 
accessible to the largest class ships ; making an aggre- 
gate of four thousand six hundred miles of navigable 
water line in the Territory. 

Washington Territory is bounded on the south by 
the River Columbia, which forms the line between this 
Territory and the State of Oregon ; east it is bounded 
by Idaho ; west by British Columbia, the boundary 
being the forty-ninth degree of north latitude ; on its 
northwest corner is the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, 
and upon its western line the Pacific ocean. 



6l4 ^-^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

The general features of the surface of this Territory 
are dense forests of fir and other trees, broad plains^ 
numerous fertile valleys, rugged hills, and snow-capped 
mountains, whose bald and snow- clad tops stand high 
above the surrounding country; numerous lakes, great 
navigable waters, and dashing streams of much volume 
and beauty. 

The two chief mountain chains in Washington are 
the Coast Range, broken and irregular, and the Cascade 
ranee, bold and well-defined. In this latter ran^e is 
the highest mountain between California and Alaska, 
Mount Rainier, about seventy miles southeast from 
Olympia at the head of Puget sound, and standing 
14,444 feet above the waters of the ocean. In the same 
mountain chain, and about the same distance from 
Olympia as is Rainier, but a little more toward the 
west, stands Mount St. Helen's, 9,550 above the sea 
level. Forty-five miles directly north from the town of 
Dalles, on the Columbia, is Mount Adams, 9,570 feet 
in height. All these mountains are in the Cascade 
range, and their snow-clad summits can be seen from 
Olympia, the Columbia river, and surrounding country 
at all seasons of the year. 

Near the northwestern corner of the Territory, and 
about fifteen miles from the British Columbia line, 
and twenty-five miles directly east from the ocean, is 
Mount Baker, 10,700 feet in height, and a most promi- 
nent object from the waters of Bellingham bay. Straits 
of Fuca, Puget sound, and adjacent country. The next 
mountain of prominence in the Territory is Mount 
Olympic, and, although less in magnitude than any of 
those already named, owing to its location, is the most 
prominent feature of tlie whole country. It stands 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 6ic 

upon the peninsula formed by the waters of the Pacific 
ocean, the Straits of Fuca, and Puget sound. It is 
sixty-five miles in a direct hne southeast from Cape 
Flattery, the extreme northwestern point of the Terri- 
tory; twenty miles south from Port Anglos, on the 
waters of the Straits of Fuca; forty-five miles about 
Yv'est from Port Townsend, at the entrance of Puget 
sound ; and thirty-five miles northeast from the highest 
waters of the Pacific ocean. Lifting its head 8,138 feet 
above the ocean, looking far out upon the waters of the 
Pacific, and seeming almost to cast its icy shadow far 
over the sea, stands Mount Olympic — a prominent land- 
mark and object for every navigator in this quarter of 
the Pacific, and presenting a strong and beautiful con- 
trast with the verdure of the valleys and the deep green 
of the tall firs, whose tops struggle in vain to reach the 
ermine mantle of this stately sentinel of antiquity. 

The navigable waters of Washington Territory are 
of the most extensive and remarkable character. Be- 
ginning at the southern extremity of the Territory, at 
the mouth of the Columbia, which forms the southern 
boundary of the Territory, dividing Washington Terri- 
tory and Oregon, it runs northward through Washing- 
ton Territory and a great portion of British Columbia; 
has one thousand miles of navigable waters in Wash- 
ington, one hundred and sixty miles of which — from 
the mouth of the Columbia to the Cascades — is navi- 
gated by ships and large ocean-steamers. At this 
point, after making a portage of six miles, and another 
at Dalles, farther up the river, small steamers and 
sailing vessels ascend for an additional distance of eight 
hundred and forty miles. Inside the Columbia bar 
are Gray's and Baker's bays, and twenty-five miles 



6l6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

north of the mouth of the Columbia, on the sea-coast, 
is Shoalwater bay, celebrated for its oyster-beds, but 
navigable only for small vessels. Twenty miles north 
of Shoalwater bay is Gray's harbor, admitting vessels 
of light draught only. From this point to Cape Flat- 
tery, the extreme west headland of the Territory, 
there are several small rivers, but no harbor of any 
importance. Between Cape Flattery and the mainland 
of Washington Territory and Vancouver island, on the 
north and west, is the famous Strait of Fuca, fourteen 
miles in width, and in the shape of a half circle, sweep- 
ing for one hundred and fifty miles from Cape Flattery 
to near the mouth of Frazer river, in British Columbia, 
where it meets the Gulf of Georgia. In all this strait 
not an obstacle is found to impede navigation — no 
sunken rocks, reefs, or shoals; and ships of the largest 
size can go close to the main shore and the shores of 
the islands toward its eastern side. In the middle of 
the strait the water is more than one hundred fathoms 
deep, and in some places bottom has not been found. 
This strait leads into the great inland sea of Puget 
sound, which enters the northwestern end of Washing- 
ton Territory. 

Juan de Fuca strait, so famous in the early records 
of the first voyagers on the North Pacific coast, received 
its name in 1792 from the navigators who, about this 
period, had confirmed the statements of its real dis- 
coverer, the old Greek sailor, yuan de Fiua, whose 
early voyage had not determined that Vancouver was 
an island, but still left the impression that the island 
was a part of the mainland. Captain Cook's voyage 
of 1778, although extending northward beyond the 
strait, did not discover it. He had followed the outer 




CASTLE ROCK, COLUMBIA RIVER.. 



/: 




MOUNT RAINIER FROM PUGET SOUND, (Washington Territory.) 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 617 

western line of Vancouver island, and it still required 
the voyages of Meares, Berkely, Duncan, Kendricks, 
Gray, and others, from 1787-9, to fully confirm the 
existence of a strait between the Island of Vancouver 
and the mainland. On the 29th of April, 1792, Van- 
couver entered the strait and commenced his surveys 
to confirm the existence of this ^reat navig-able water; 
but Vancouver found the Yankee ahead of him. On 
his arrival in the sound, he found Captain Gray, of Bos- 
ton, had navigated the strait, and was there in person, 
exploring and trafficking with the Indians, dealing out 
his " Yankee notions" and Massachusetts copper coins 
to the natives. Gray received his English cousin 
kindly, and showed him the country " round about," 
and an American flag floating from a pole on the 
beach. 

In 1592, Apostolus Valerianos, the Greek pilot known 
as yican de Piica, was sent by the Viceroy of Mexico 
on a voyage of discovery along the coast of California 
and Oregon, and along the northwest coast. Upon 
this cruise he made his famous discovery of the strait 
now bearing his name. But his discovery and him- 
self were long regarded as myths, neglected and 
almost forgotcen, as the viceroy, without affording 
him material aid, recommended him to the King of 
Spain, with a report of his discoveries; but no aid 
rewarded the exertions of poor Fuca, who, in 1602, 
died in Italy, in poverty and obscurity. 

A brief narrative of Fuca's discovery, published in 
1625 by Michael Lok, entided '' Purchas his Pil grimes',' 
first published under the title of " A note made by me, 
Michael Lok the elder, touching the Strait of the Sea, com- 
monly called Fretum Anian, in the South sea, through the 



6l8 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

northwest passage of Meta incognita," had first intro- 
duced to the public the discoverer of the Strait of Fuca. 
Lok had met the old Greek sailor at Venice in 1596, 
and learned from his lips his triumphs and his miseries. 
Captain Candlish, the English navigator and buccaneer, 
the old navigator said, had taken his galleon off the 
coast of Lower California, "whereby he lost sixtie 
thousand duckets of his owne goods." Fuca applied 
to the English government through Lord Cecil, Sir 
Walter Raleigh, and others, for service under its 
patronage, in hope of regaining his losses by their 
pirate countrymen, but without success. 

The narrative of Fuca's voyage into the strait says : 

"Also, he said, that he went on land in divers places, and that 
he saw some people on land clad in beasts' skins; and that the land 
is very fruitful and rich in gold, silver, pearl, and other things, like 
ISfoua Spania. 

" And also, he said, that he being entered thus farre into the said 
strait, and being come into the North sea already, [between Van- 
couver island and the mainland,] and finding the sea wide enough 
everywhere, and to be about thirtie or fortie leagues wide in the 
mouth of the straits where hee entered, hee thought hee had now 
well discharged his office and done the thing which hee was sent to 
doe, and that hee not being armed to resist the force of the salvage 
people that might happen, hee therefore set sayle and returned 
homewards againe towards JVoua Spam'a, where he arrived at 
Acapulco, Anno 1592." 

Pueet sound, from its western entrance near Port 
Town send to its head waters at Olympia, is eighty miles 
in a direct line, and about one hundred and twenty miles 
by the course generally navigated. North of the en- 
trance at Port Townsend, and toward Bellingham bay, 
there are several entrances through channels and groups 
of islands to this sound, and ships of the largest size 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 619 

can at all seasons and with all winds find an easy 
entrance and exit to and from this magnificent sheet 
of water. 

Bellingham bay, which is fifty miles north of Port 
Townsend, and which forms an opening into Puget 
sound, is distant from Olympia one hundred and thirty 
miles in a direct line; so that Puget sound proper is 
about one hundred and thirty miles in length in an air- 
line from its head waters to its northern entrance. 
The sound has an average width of twenty-five miles, 
swelling in its widest part to fifty miles. The general 
course of the waters of the sound is from north to 
south, and from the entrances to its head is a succession 
of islands, some small, others containing thousands of 
acres, and nearly all covered with oak, ash, fir, and 
other timber, shrubbery, fern, and green grass, lending 
a most picturesque and romantic appearance to this 
lovely section. Innumerable channels, inlets, coves, and 
small bays indent the mainland and the shores of the 
islands within the sound, which, with the verdure of 
the surrounding country, the stillness of the waters, 
the dense and deep green forests rising upon either 
side, and the venerable white heads of the mountains 
in the background, not only make Puget sound one 
of the finest and safest harbors in the world but a 
scene of unsurpassed beauty. 

Like the Strait of Fuca, Puget sound is uninterrupted 
by either rocks, reefs, flats, or shoals — there not being 
a single object of danger to navigation within the whole 
length of a coast line, including islands, bays, and inlets, 
of three thousand one hundred miles. In all this 
length there is not an object to retard the progress of 
the largest ocean-steamer, and in most places so deep 



620 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

is the water that the sides of the largest ship will 
touch the banks before her keel will touch the bottom. 
With but few exceptions the banks are clay, and the 
beach white, hard sand and pebble. The water of the 
sound is of crystal purity, and sixty fathoms deep in 
many places, and in some parts bottom has not been 
found with a hundred fathom line. There are several 
streams running into the sound, but none of any mag- 
nitude, and there is no bay or river at its head; but the 
water of the ocean flows its whole length, makinof a 
rise of twelve feet at neap tide and eighteen feet at 
spring tide. At Olympia, the head of the waters, there 
is quite a long mud-flat at low tide, but this is the only 
place of this kind upon the whole sound. Indeed, 
in most parts, the water is too deep for convenient 
anchorage. 

Ice is never seen in all the waters of Pusfet sound. 
It is never stormy upon this inland sea. There are no 
strong currents, cross seas, gales, nor gusts of wind. 
The climate is mild, the waters sheltered upon every 
side, completely landlocked; and pure water, fish, game, 
wood, and coal are abundant, making it one of the 
safest and most convenient seaports in the world for 
repairs and supplies. The waters of Puget sound are 
navigated by steamers and ships, and steamers run 
regularly to and from this point and California, Van- 
couver island, and other places ; and fleets of domes- 
tic and foreign vessels load with lumber and spars for 
Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, Sandwich 
islands, and California, 

The climate of Puget sound and adjoining country is 
mild and generally agreeable, never being too cold nor 
too hot. It is much like the climate of Oregon. Snow 




vto.^1 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 621 

falls upon the mountain ridges and high lands ; and for 
a few days in each winter a light coat of snow may fall 
in some of the valleys, but is soon swept away by the 
heat of the sun. Ice is formed upon the waters of the 
northeastern portion of the Territory ; but throughout 
the region upon the sea-coast and all the southern sec- 
tion frost and snow are seldom seen. The ground is 
never frozen. Vegetables grow the year round ; and 
horses, sheep, and cattle graze at large throughout the 
whole winter. Gardening is generally begun in March, 
but vegetables and flowers grow every day in the year; 
and farming is never interrupted by cold or frost. The 
waters of Puget sound are never frozen, and the climate 
of winter and summer differs but a few degrees — the 
mean annual temperature being fifty degrees ; winter 
temperature being forty-one degrees, and mean summer 
sixty-two degrees. Yet this region is in the line of the 
forty-ninth degree of north latitude, is three degrees 
farther north than the city of St. John, Newfoundland, 
and the city of Quebec, Canada; and is north of the 
whole of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward 
island, and the whole of the River St. Lawrence. But 
Puget sound is seventy degrees west of St. John's, 
Newfoundland, and fifty-two degrees west of Quebec, 
and where the influence of the great interior line of the 
Rocky mountains and the waters and breezes of the 
Pacific ocean so subdue the rigors of winter as to make 
the whole Pacific coast — at least as far as the forty- 
ninth degree of north latitude — perpetual summer; and 
even up to Behring strait, in the sixty-sixth degree of 
north ladtude, along the whole coast line, so mild that 
snow rarely falls upon the low lands, and that heavy 



622 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

falls of cold rains with light frosts constitute the wlntei 
of this region on the sea-coast. 

One of the chief features of Washington Territory is 
its vast forests. These consist of fir trees, which, in the 
vicinity of Puget sound and the whole western portion 
of the Territory, cover the greater part of the surface 
and grow to a great size. The forest is dense ; the 
trees straight, free from limbs, and generally carry their 
thickness well toward the top, which is surmounted 
with a tuft of evero^reen bouQ-hs. The timber is free 
from knots, strong, and durable ; and is used generally 
in house and ship building, and makes the finest masts 
and spars in the world. The trees generally grow 
from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in 
height, and from four to ten feet in diameter ; and trees 
are often found to grow three hundred feet in height ; 
and at some of the mills on the sound, planks of two 
hundred feet in length, clear, and entirely free of knots, 
are cut. Lumbering, agriculture, and mining are the 
chief occupations of the people ; and sawed and other 
lumber finds a market in California, Mexico, South and 
Central America, the Sandwich islands, and even in 
Australia, China, Japan, and some parts of Europe. 
With the great supply of timber, the fine harbors, and 
genial climate of Washington Territory, it must at 
some day become an important ship-building point. 

It must not be understood that all the surface of 
Washington Territory is covered with forest: on the 
contrary, even in the vicinity of the sound, there are 
many rich and beautiful valleys, and a considerable area 
of excellent agricultural land ; and agricultural pursuits, 
which are conducted in all parts of the Territory, show 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 623 

that the soil will produce abundantly of wheat, oats, 
barley, vegetables, and fruit; and that timothy and 
clover, neither of which will grow in California, except 
in a few localities, grow most luxuriantly. 

As a grazing country, WashingtonJTerritory is equal 
to any portion of America — the mild climate, native 
grasses, and rich herbage making it a most desirable 
place for horses, cattle, and sheep. Animals live in the 
open air during the whole year, and, with the exception 
of a few cold or stormy days in January in a few locali- 
ties, experience little difficulty in supporting themselves 
without the aid of man. 

Wild game of almost every variety — elk, deer, bear, 
swan, geese, ducks, crane, snipe, plover, grouse, and 
many others — abound. Fur animals — seal, sea-otter, 
otter, beaver, mink, fox, martin, and other varieties — 
are abundant, and of good quality. The bays and 
rivers are well stocked with fish, salmon of the finest 
quality abounding in the Columbia and the waters of 
Puget sound, and all the rivers of any size. Mines of 
the precious and other metals are found, and worked to 
great advantage in many parts of the country. On 
the tributaries of the Columbia, and throughout the 
greater part of the eastern side of the Territory, gold and 
silver mines, yielding annually one million dollars, are 
worked with great profit. Rich deposits of copper and 
iron have been discovered, and coal-beds of great ex- 
tent and value abound in the whole country surround- 
ing Puget sound and Belllngham bay. The country 
generally is well watered with dashing streams, and the 
falls and cascades afford abundant motive power for the 
future mechanical industries of this quarter. Wild 
berries in great quantity and variety grow throughout 



624 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

the Territory, and these, with the abundance of fish 
and game, supphed the wants of the numerous Indian 
tribes inhabitinof this section. There are still laree 
numbers of Indians in Washington Territory, but, as 
in most other quarters of the West, they are passing 
away. Soon will the canoe of the red man be seen 
upon the waters of Puget sound no more forever. The 
coming shriek of the steam-whistle will sound the death- 
knell of the Chinook, Shawnee, Walla Walla, and Flat- 
head throughout the forests and along the shores of 
this western land. 

The people of Washington Territory are chiefly 
American, but there is a large number of other nation- 
alities. It has not yet become dense enough to indulge 
its members in all the vice of more populous places, 
and the inhabitants are generally industrious and well 
disposed. Churches, schools, libraries, and other evi- 
dence of progress are to be found. The federal gov- 
ernment has donated to the Territory three thousand 
square miles of land for educational purposes, and a 
territorial university is maintained at Seattle, on the 
shores of Puget sound, and free schools are liberally 
maintained throughout the country. 

Washington is divided into twenty-one counties, with 
the territorial capital at Olympia, at the head waters 
of Puget sound. The population of the Territory in 
1870 was 23,955, having more than doubled during the 
past ten years. Of the entire population, 18,931 were 
native Americans, and 5,024 were of foreign birth. 
There were 207 colored and 234 Chinese in the Terri- 
tory at this period. 

In 1870, there were in Washington Territory twenty- 
five grist-mills, fifty-six saw-mills, one woollen factory, 




■^s?3sai 



f-i^- 



.KI \1 bl klN(j, 1 IRl IKJI K I.\'3l.N. 




YELLOWSTONE LAKE, WYOMING TERRITORY. 
(Line of the Northern Pacific Railroad.,; 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 625 

thirteen newspapers, and four public libraries, contain- 
ing an aggregate of nine thousand volumes; a terri- 
torial university and several schools and churches. 
There were at the same time within the Territory two 
hundred thousand acres of improved land, and eleven 
thousand horses, one thousand mules, fifty thousand 
cattle, thirty-one thousand sheep, and fifteen thousand 
hogs; and there were produced in this year four hun- 
dred thousand bushels of wheat, three hundred thou- 
sand bushels of barley, sixty-one thousand bushels of 
oats, and thirty-one thousand tons of hay. The lumber 
resources are almost inexhaustible, and of the very best 
quality. Some idea of the extent of this trade may 
be had from the fact that the small population of the 
lumber districts in the vicinity of Puget sound manu- 
factured, in 1870, one hundred and ninety million feety 
furnishing cargoes for one hundred and thirteen ships, 
one hundred and ninety-one barks, forty-five brigs, and 
eighty-seven schooners, which found their way to all 
parts of the Pacific coast, South and Central America, 
Sandwich islands, Australia, East Indies, China, Japan, 
and Europe. 

Altogether^with the mild climate, rich mines, great 
forests, navigable waters, agricultural and grazing lands, 
arid the large amount of the public domain yet open to 
settlement — Washington Territory is one of the most 
desirable sections of America in which the immigrrant 
can seek a home. Here is yet the virgin soil, primitive 
forests, and great natural wealth for a prosperous and 
populous State; and here, too, is the last remaining 
available site in the United States for a ereat maritime 
commercial city on the shores of the magnificent inland' 
sea of Puget sound, inviting to its capacious bosom the 



62 6 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

commerce of Asia and the North Pacific coast, and 
standing in an almost direct line between the great pro- 
ducing and consuming centres of the world — Europe 
and Asia. 

The Northern Pacific railroad, now being built from 
Lake Superior to Puget sound, will, when finished, 
draw to its western terminus the nucleus of a great 
city, develop the agricultural and mineral resources of 
Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Northern Oregon, Wash- 
ington Territory, and a great portion of the rich val- 
leys of that portion of the Canadian dominion between 
the lakes and the rocky mountains, rich in soil, min- 
erals, and forests, the gold-fields and other resources 
of British Columbia, and the gold and coal mines of 
Alaska, and the vast fishing resources of the Pacific. 

In considering the new national highway of the 
North, it is well to estimate its advantag"es in its com- 
mercial and local influences, and also in its national 
importance. Already the lakes of the interior are con- 
nected by water and rail with the Atlantic seaboard, 
and the products of interior America find their way 
to the ocean line and to Europe through these chan- 
nels ; but farther toward the West — from the lakes to 
the Pacific ocean — lies a vast region, mild in climate, 
rich in soil, minerals, forests, and wonders, yet to be • 
brought under the dominion of man, and upon which 
prosperous and vigorous States must yet be erected. 

The section of country to be affected by the Northern 
railroad is vastly superior in climate and natural re- 
sources to the country between the Sierras and the 
Rocky mountains, along the Union and Central Pacific 
roads. An opinion prevails that, along the line of the 
Northern road, cold must be intense, and the obstruc- 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 62/ 

tlons of snow formidable ; this notion is incorrect. 
As you proceed north from the Hne of the Union and 
Central Pacific roads the elevation decreases, gradually 
falling from 8,235 feet at Sherman, in the Rocky 
mountains, on the Union Pacific, and 7,042 feet at Sum- 
mit, in the Sierras, to 4,950 feet at Deer Lodge Pass, 
and 3,700 feet at Clark's river, on the line of the North 
Pacific road in the Rocky mountains. These being the 
highest points on the line of the roads mentioned, it 
will thus be seen that, along the line of the Northern 
Pacific road, the elevation is at least three thousand feet 
less than along the line of the Union and Central Pa- 
cific roads. This depression continues from Lake 
Superior to Puget sound on the Pacific, leaving a belt 
runninof across the whole continent of from eisfht hun- 
dred to a thousand miles In breadth lying from three 
to four thousand feet lower than the range from San 
Francisco to Chicago : forming a depression through 
which, at least as far east as the Rocky mountains, 
the mild trade-winds of the Pacific carry their influence, 
rendering the whole region from Puget sound to the 
Rocky mountains, and a great area of the territory of 
British Columbia — even as far north as Lesser Slave 
lake in the line of the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude 
— milder in winter than the climate of the States of 
Virginia and Tennessee. 

The new road to the Pacific begins at the head of 
Lake Superior, passing directly west between the forty- 
sixth and forty-eighth degrees of latitude through the 
centre of the State of Minnesota, through Dakota, in 
the centre of which It crosses the JNIIssourl river and a 
succession of streams, forests, and fertile valleys; cross- 
ing the whole length of Montana Territory, where, for 



628 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

four hundred and fifty miles, it follows the valley of the 
Yellowstone river, with its fertility, sterility, forests, des- 
erts, lakes, water-falls, fire-holes, hot, mineral, and 
other springs, and its famous geysers, presenting the 
grandest combination of beauties and natural wonders 
on the continent. Yellowstone Lake and the princi- 
pal geysers lie directly in the line of the Northern 
Pacific railroad and in the northwestern corner of 
Wyoming Territory, close to the line of Montana, and 
just east of the base of the Rocky mountains, and 
directly in the forty-fifth degree of north latitude and 
thirty-three west longitude. Here, embracing a vast 
tract which includes the water-falls, lakes, geysers, hot, 
mud, sulphur, and other springs, with the beautiful 
scenery, the National Congress has made a reservation 
for a public park, where the near future will witness 
thousands of health and pleasure seekers enjoying the 
finest natural scenery and grandest combination of 
natural phenomena in America. 

The park reserved by the national government is 
the largest reservation for public uses in the world, 
being sixty-five miles in length and fifty-five miles in 
breadth, or an area of 3,575 square miles. These vast 
public grounds are under the supervision of a commis- 
sioner appointed by the President of the United States; 
and a large painting of the Yellowstoiie cafion^ to adorn 
the walls of the national capitol, has recently been 
completed. 

At this park, the course of the road turns northwest 
through the mineral districts of Montana, following the 
eastern slope of the Rocky mountains, until, at Deer 
Lodge Pass, it crosses this range and. follows on north- 
west in that portion of Montana west of the Rocky 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 629 

mountains until it reaches Missoule Mills, near the 
eastern line of Idaho, where the road will branch, one 
line keeping on northwest until, at the forty-ninth 
parallel of north latitude, it crosses in a direct westerly 
line the northern end of Idaho and Washington Terri- 
tories, crossing the Columbia river, and on to Puget 
sound, along the eastern shore of which it passes west- 
ward to the great coal regions of Bellingham bay, close 
to the British line. At Missoule Mills, in the western 
slope of Montana, where the road branches, one line 
turns a little south of west, crossing Idaho, and, at its 
western line, crosses the Snake river at Lewiston, 
where it enters Washington Territory, and at old Fort 
Walla Walla crosses the Columbia river, upon the 
western side of which it passes through the fertile and 
beautiful country of the Columbia for one hundred and 
seventy miles to Fort Vancouver, thence turning di- 
rectly west, following the river, reaches Kalama, on the 
west bank of the Columbia, where it turns directly north 
through the rich valley of the Cowlitz to Olympia, where 
it joins the northern branch in its course westward to the 
British boundary: making the entire line, from Duluth, 
Lake Superior, by the branch via Vancouver, a total 
distance of two thousand miles to Puget sound, and by 
the northern branch, one thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-five miles. 

As a winter road, it Is fair to conclude that no greater 
interruptions from snow will be experienced than pre- 
vail in any of the Adantic States; the whole line of 
road, from Duluth to Puget sound, has but an average 
elevation of two thousand two hundred feet, and the 
fall of snow is much less than it is one thousand miles 
farther south. In the whole length of the Union Pacific 



630 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

road, from Chicago to San Francisco, during the severe 
winter of 187 1-2, the only obstruction by snow was in 
the range of the Rocky mountains, at an elevation of 
from seven thousand four hundred to eight thousand 
feet above the sea, not an hour's obstruction occurring 
on any point as low as the highest point on the line of 
the Northern Pacific road. 

The national government, comprehending the import- 
ance of this international highway, has aided its construc- 
tion by donating to it almost twenty-three thousand acres 
per mile, ox fifty million acres of land in the aggregate. 

The Northern Pacific road will make the route 
between Liverpool and the ports of Asia one thousand 
four hundred miles shorter than any line now travelled, 
and place the great lakes of the interior and the Pacific 
ocean almost seven hundred miles closer toijether than 
the line of the Union Pacific ; and New York city three 
hundred and thirty-five miles nigher to Puget sound 
than to San Francisco. This northern road will be the 
natural outlet for the business soon to be developed in 
the rich valleys of the Red river, the head of the Mis- 
souri, Yellowstone, Assiniboin, and Saskatchewan, east 
of the Rocky mountains, and the rich fields of gold and 
agriculture in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washing- 
ton Territory; and its terminus at Puget sound will be 
the connecting link of the immense Asiatic and Pacific 
trade passing east of the Rocky mountains, which will 
include the whaling and other fishing interests of the 
Pacific, soon to find their natural depot in the splendid 
and oenial harbor of Pueet sound. 

From Lake Superior to the waters of the Pacific in 
Washington Territory, on both sides of the Rocky moun- 
tains, is a vast region of unsurpassed fertility, where 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 63 1 

wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, most of the hardier fruits, 
and every variety of berries and vegetables grow most 
abundantly: a deep, rich soil, millions of acres of which 
are ready for the plow ; forests of beauty and value, 
wide grazing ranges, rivers, lakes, and mines rich in 
gold, silver, copper, coal, and other minerals, almost 
entirely unoccupied. Here new communities and new 
States must be built; here is room enough iox fifty 
miliion people. Who can contemplate the future great- 
ness of the new States of this reeion, and the national 
importance of its hidden treasures being brought close 
to our crowded centres by the tireless iron horse, whose 
ambition sets at defiance the rocks, ridges, and forests 
of the Rocky mountains ! 



632 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Geography — History — Hudson Bay Company — Area — Islands — 
Mountains — Rivers — Lakes — Forests — Climate — Agriculture — 
Valleys — Seasons — Rain — Bays — Harbors — Inlets — Natural re- 
sources — Gold and other minerals — Cities — Customs — Population 
— Natives — Commerce — Canadian railway, 

British Columbia is that portion of the Dominion of 
Canada lying west of the Rocky mountains, and Vv^ashed 
on the west by the Pacific ocean. This is the only 
portion of the whole possessions of Great Britain on 
the Pacific, and embraces, besides the mainland of 
British Columbia, a number of islands in the Pacific, 
embracing Vancouver, in itself three hundred miles 
in length and sixty miles wide, Queen Charlotte, and 
numerous other islands, many of them of great size, 
and possessing valuable forests, a genial climate, abun- 
dance of fish in their waters, and game, and mines of 
gold, silver, copper, coal, and other minerals vvithin 
their area. 

The colony of British Columbia was formerly a por- 
tion of that vast region known as the Hudson Bay 
Company's territory, which extended from Lake Supe- 
rior west and north to the Pacific and the Arctic oceans, 
and included at one time Oreg-on and Washintrton 
Territory, over all of which region the dominion of this, 
once mighty company was absolute in commercial and 
military affairs, and in a portion of which the Hudson 
Bay Company still conducts their fur trade to considera- 
ble extent. 



I r 






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■h A 







BRITISH COLUMBIA. 633 

The present limits of British Columbia are west by 
the Pacific ocean and a portion of Alaska, north by the 
Arctic ocean, east by the Rocky mountains, and south 
by Washington Territory, in the forty-ninth degree of 
north latitude. From this point toward the northwest, 
the colony of British Columbia has a direct frontage of 
six hundred miles on the Pacific ; here a long tongue 
of Alaska, of six hundred miles in length and a hun- 
dred miles wide, extends along the coast toward the 
southeast, and cutdng off six hundred additional miles 
of coast line from the colony. The total area of British 
Columbia, which now includes Vancouver island (lately 
a separate colony) and a multitude of other islands, 
is estimated at three hundred thousand square miles. 

British Columbia is a succession of mountain chains, 
rugged peaks, plains, fertile valleys, dense forests, lakes, 
creeks, and dashing rivers, all making a varied, wild, 
and picturesque country, and, although still almost in 
its primitive condition, very desirable in many sections, 
affording rich agricultural fields and wide pasture- 
ranges, where cattle, horses, and sheep graze at large 
throughout the entire year. In the interior, and toward 
the eastern line of the colony, the mountains are high, 
and many peaks are perpetually clad in snow ; but 
toward the Pacific side but little snow falls, and on the 
immediate coast line and the islands the climate is mild 
— milder than in any portion of the States of Virginia, 
Maryland, or Tennessee; and the same warm winds 
and ocean currents from the Pacific, which temper the 
whole seaboard of California, Oregon, and Washington 
Territory, keep the climate of the coast range of this 
section most inviting — so mild in winter that vegetables 
grow throughout the whole year, and so cool, yet so 



634 ^-^-^ GOLDEN STATE. 

charming-, that the climate of the coast hne and the 
islands is invigorating and delightful. In the greater 
portion of British Columbia, both islands and mainland, 
along the coast west of Washington Territory, the 
winter temperature varies little from an average of 40°; 
spring, 48°; summer, 62°; autumn, 50°; and the annual 
temperature, 51°. Rains fall in this section about the 
same as in Oregon and Washington Territory, being 
dispersed more generally through all the seasons of 
the year than along the southern Pacific coast. About 
sixty inches of rain falls along the coast during the 
year, the greater part falling from November to April, 
the rest of the year being comparatively dry. 

Along the sea-coast of the colony and the islands 
are the most charmincr navig-able waters in the world. 
On the east end of Vancouver island, and followed up 
to the Gulf of Georgia, is the charming inlet, so placid, 
the Strait of Juan de Fuca, separating Vancouver island 
from Washington Territory on the east; thence along 
the mainland, with Vancouver, Queen Charlotte, and 
other islands to the south, is a direct line of six hundred 
miles, indented wit^i innumerable bays, harbors, rivers, 
inlets, and sounds, including Burard inlet, Howe sound, 
Jarvis canal, Toba inlet, Bute inlet, Vancouver and 
Queen Charlotte straits, and many others of great 
magnitude, with high, hanging, rugged mountain peaks, 
some bald and stern, others clad in perpetual verdure 
of forest trees, grasses and herbs, which mirror their 
beauties in the still waters, upon which float the fleets 
of Indian canoes, freighted with fish, furs, ivory, and 
bone for their commercial patrons — the Hudson Bay 
Company. In cHmate, beautiful waters, capacious har- 
bors, and safe anchorage, and wild, charming scenery, 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 635 

this coast is not surpassed on the continent. In all the 
rivers and bays salmon and other fish, of great size and 
superior quality, abound; and valuable- fishing-grounds 
of cod, halibut, and other deep-sea fish exist off the 
coast. In the interior, elk, deer, bear, otter, martin, fox, 
mink, geese, ducks, trout, and a great variety of game 
of birds and beasts, and valuable fur-bearing animals, 
are found. 

In the interior of the colony many mountain peaks 
rise to great height, and are clad perpetually in snow. 
The Rocky mountains, forming its eastern boundary, 
are known in the colony as Selkirk mountains. Here, 
in latitude fifty-three north. Mount Brov/n stands six- 
teen thousand feet above the sea, and Mount Hooker 
has an elevation of fifteen thousand seven hundred feet. 
The course of the Rocky mountains is northward through 
the country until finally they reach the ice-bound shores 
of the Arctic ocean. So with the Sierra Nevada range 
in this region, although passing under other names, run 
through the whole length of the colony, parallel with 
the Rocky mountains, bearing with them their rich 
freight of the precious metals so abundantly diffused in 
the rich gold-mines of Cariboo, the Frazer, Thompson, 
and other rivers of British Columbia. 

Forests of great magnitude and value, consisting 
chiefly of fir, oak, cedar, and ash, abound in many parts 
of the country, and the fir trees often reach a height 
of from two to three hundred feet, straigfht and free 
from limbs, making a superior quality of lumber. The 
fish, fur, and lumber interests of the colony are very 
valuable ; while coal on Vancouver and other islands, 
and on the mainland, is abundant and of superior 
quality. Iron, lead, copper, gold, and silver also exist, 



6S^ THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and the rich gold-mines developed In 1858 have con- 
tniued to yield abundantly, not being surpassed in rich- 
ness even in California or Australia. These mines are 
chiefly worked in the beds of the rivers, and banks and 
sand-bars on the Frazer, Thompson, and other rivers 
and their various branches, which produce free gold of 
great purity, and of late years quartz veins of great 
richness have been opened. During the last fourteen 
years the gold-mines of British Columbia have steadily 
yielded rich rewards to those engaged, (of course all 
do not succeed,) and, with about two thousand men 
employed, the mines now produce over two million 
dollars annually, and rich discoveries in bank, river, and 
quartz are being constantly made ; indeed, the country 
has not yet been fairly prospected for the precious 
metals, and centuries hence will find hundreds of mil- 
lions of dollars of gold produced from the mountains 
and eulches of British Columbia. 

For stock-raising, the colony has many advantages 
in its wide ranges, covered with nutritious bunch-grass 
which grows luxuriantly, and its well-sheltered valleys 
and hill-sides rich in herbage and pasture ; and in the 
valleys of Bonaparte, Thompson, Nicola, and Frazer 
rivers, more than twenty thousand head of cattle run 
at large throughout the whole year, grazing upon the 
rich natural meadows of the country. 

British Columbia is well watered by numerous rivers, 
lakes, and creeks. The Frazer river is the chief one 
of the colony. It has its source high in the western 
slope of the Rocky mountains, close to the fifty-fifth 
degree of north latitude, running in a southerly direc- 
tion until, nearly opposite the eastern end of Vancouver 
island, it empties into the Gulf of Georgia, about four- 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 637 

teen miles north of the Hne of Washington Territory, 
and passes into the Pacific ocean. This river is more 
than one thousand five hundred miles from its source 
to its mouth, and is navigable for large steamers for 
one hundred miles, and for an additional hundred miles 
for steamers of light draught; but its course is gener- 
ally over a very rough country, forming falls and rapids; 
and the melting snows of the interior so swell its cur- 
rent that at times, as it passes over its precipitate bed, 
and through deep, dark, and narrow gorges in the 
mountains, it is fearful, as in its mad career it forms 
eddies and whirlpools, which form deep holes, roaring 
and twirling as they suck down large floating trees, 
whirling, crashing, and tearing limbs and bark off. 
Such periods are very dangerous for small boats and 
canoes, many of which were, during the eventful gold 
excitement of 1858-9, with their whole crews, swallowed 
in those dreaded whirlpools. 

The material growth of the colony is not yet very 
great. For almost a century the country has been the 
great centre of the Hudson Bay Company, an English 
fur company of great magnitude and influence, which 
maintained their trading -posts from Labrador to the 
Pacific ocean, and still hold a footing in the country. 
At Forts Langley, Hope, and Yale, on the Frazer river, 
and at Victoria, Vancouver island, this company had 
maintained villages and posts of importance before the 
discovery of gold in 1858 ; from which points, by steam- 
ers and sail, the eoods for traffic with the Indians found 
their way direct from London, and the annual and valu- 
able cargo of furs found an outlet on its way to Eng- 
land. At Victoria, which is on the eastern end of Van- 
couver island the Hudson Bay Company had, long 



638 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

before the gold excitement of 1858-9, laid out, upon a 
beautifully situated elevation, at the waters of the har- 
bor of Victoria, the site of the present city of Victoria, 
now the capital of British Columbia. At that period, 
a strong fort, with upright posts of large hewn logs, of 
a height of fifty feet, with rifle-pits and mounted guns, 
were maintained around the large enclosure containing 
the officers' quarters, storehouses, merchandise, and 
furs ; and one or two steamers carried on the business 
of the company between this point and all parts of the 
coast. The ofiicers of the company here, as well as 
throughout the whole coast, were chiefly Scotchmen, 
who worked their way overland from Canada at an 
early day, and, in their long sojourn in the wilderness, 
had married and intermarried with the native Indians; 
thus at once securing the friendship of the natives, 
facilitating traffic, and adapting the family-circle to the 
primitive order of life in their new rural homes. The 
late Doctor McLaughlin, of Oregon City, Oregon, a 
gentleman of high character and attainments, so long 
the head-factor of the Hudson Bay Company on the 
Pacific, and James Douglass, now Sir James Douglass, 
long head-factor at Victoria, and late Governor of Van- 
couver island, both married Indian squaws and raised 
families, who were educated in Europe, and, on their 
return to their forest homes, married with the whites. 
I do not know of a single case where any of the officers 
or employes of this company married a white woman : 
all took wives of the Indian tribes of the coast or 
interior. 

Victoria, in 1857, had a population of about one 
hundred persons. In 1858, so great was the excitement 
respecting the gold discoveries on Frazer river that 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 639 

real estate in San Francisco fell more than a hundred 
per cent, in a few months, and great depression was 
experienced throughout California. Four or five large 
ocean-steamers were employed to their utmost capacity 
to convey passengers and freight from San Francisco 
to Victoria, where more than sixty tkotisand gold-hunters 
had assembled in a few months, and the city of Victoria 
assumed scenes of excitement equalled only by San 
Francisco in 1849. The whole hill in the vicinity of 
the old Hudson bay fort and stores was for miles dotted 
with tents, as if a great army had invaded the land, and 
the great steamers, piles of goods, large booths of com- 
merce, drinking-saloons, gambling-houses, dance-houses, 
real estate and merchandise auctions, with the excite- 
ment of building boats and buying canoes, (a passage 
of from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty 
miles across the Gulf of Georgia, and thence up the 
Frazer river, had to be made before the mines were 
reached, and this in small open boats, most perilous 
both from the sea and the hostile Indians from the 
north,) all excited, racing to and fro, carrying boards, 
bundles, mining-tools, bedding, provisions, clothing, 
tents, whiskey, and every conceivable article, in their 
mad rush alike astonished the quiet Hudson bay men, 
who thought the whole world had gone mad, and the 
natives, who, awe-stricken, saw more men than they 
thouorht had existed in the whole world. After a while 
these awe-stricken Indians began to learn their own 
power, and tribes of red-haired savages from Queen 
Charlotte island and the whole coast came down in 
their immense wood canoes, (some of which are fifty 
and sixty feet in length, of the finest lines of a clipper 
ship, and carrying fifty to one hundred Indians,) and, 



640 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

lying in wait in the Strait of Fuca, Bellingham bay, the 
Gulf of Georgia, and Frazer river, would attack small 
boats, rob them of their valuables, and murder all on 
board. Scores of these deluded gold-hunters, in 1858-9, 
lost their lives in this way, to say nothing of the loss 
by small, frail boats swamping in the rough waters of 
the gulf and in Frazer river. The Chinese were ob- 
jects of hatred, being regarded as bad Indians, and put 
to death at every opportunity. Victoria built up to a 
city of ten or twelve thousand people, in 1859, but soon 
the miners began to return in great distress and poverty. 
Goods in Victoria were only half the prices they had 
cost in San Francisco ; real estate fell five hundred 
per cent, in a few months ; the city was almost depopu- 
lated, and has since remained a city of emptiness, with 
five houses empty for every one occupied. It now 
presents a desolate aspect, with but little prospect of 
immediate improvement. The population is about 
four thousand, nearly half of whom are Americans. 
Churches, schools, and a theatre are maintained; and a 
line of steamers runs regularly between San Francisco 
and Victoria, and also between Olympia, Puget sound, 
and other ports, and this place. The harbor at Victoria 
is small, and not accessible to vessels of great draught; 
but about four miles west of Victoria, on the south 
side of the island, is the harbor of Esquimalt, small, 
but with deep water, and overhanging with dense fir 
forests and rocks, making it well sheltered. Here all 
large vessels, as well as the ships of the British navy in 
this quarter, enter. Farther west, on the south side 
of the island, are the expansive waters of Barclay inlet, 
Nootka sound, and other harbors. On the northeastern 
end of the island, a little north of Victoria, is the village 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 64 1 

of Nanaimo, where extensive coal-mines are operated, 
the prockict of which, with the Bellingham bay coal of 
Washington Territory, finds a market in San Francisco 
and other sections of the coast. Between the east end 
of Vancouver island and Puget sound is the small island 
of San Juan, of little importance except as an object of 
contention between England and America to deter- 
mine the water-line through the Gulf of Georgia and 
Strait of Fuca, and to maintain a few lazy soldiers of 
both countries in the "joint occupancy" of the island.* 

Victoria is a free port, and about one thousand 
vessels enter and depart annually. All this section of 
country — its trade, natural wealth, and future develop- 
ment — naturally belong to the great port of Puget 
sound, and must eventually redound to the direct in- 
terest of that section and the Northern Pacific railroad. 

The population of the colony of Bridsh Columbia 
consists of about ten thousand whites and fifty thousand 
Indians, half-breeds, and mixtures between Indians and 
white men. The chief hunting and labor about the 
Hudson Bay Company's establishment are done by the 
Indians. Some of the tribes are very numerous and 
powerful; the men are tall, muscular, and large boned, 
skin about copper color, and long, flowing black hair, 
except that some of the tribes from the far northwest 
coast and Queen Charlotte island, who often visit Vic- 
toria in large canoes with their freights of fish,, furs, 

* On the 24th of October, 1872, the Emperor William, of Germany, to whom 
luigland and the United States had submitted the final settlement of the ownership 
of San Juan island, rendered his decision, making the Canal De Ilaro the line 
between liritish Columbia and Washington Territory; thus establishing the title 
of the United States to San Juan island. And on the 22d of November, 1872, 
the British troops evacuated the island, leaving the Americans in full possession. 
of San Juan. 
4» 



642 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

bone, squaws, pappooses, and wolf-dogs, are very 
light colored, with smooth, copper-colored skin, and 
flowing hair, quite red. Few of the tribes ever molest 
the employes of the Hudson Bay Company, most of 
whom speak the language of the natives as their own, 
and are connected by marriage with some of the tribes; 
but with Americans and others they are unreliable, 
deceitful, and murderous. 

About Victoria, Frazer river, and all parts of Puget 
sound, are found numbers of the Flathead Indians. 
The head is made flat while the child is young, by lash- 
ing it on a board on its back and lashing another 
board tight over the forehead, pressing the back of the 
head and the front above the eyebrows flat, running to 
a broad, sharp point at the top, so that, if they put on a 
hat, it must go on crosswise. The child remains on the 
board until the skull forms hard in its shape. God^ 
iChey say, was Flathead. 

The condition upon which British Columbia entered 

ffhe Canadian confederation was, that the latter would, 

,not later than July,'i873, commence the construction 

(of.the Canada Pacific railway, connecting the lakes and 

ithe St. .l>awrence river with the Pacific side of British 

Columbia,; which road will be about 2,700 miles in 

length, commencing at Lake Nippung, near Georgiana 

bay, and must be completed within ten years after its 

. commencemejat. The government of Canada and the 

• government of British Columbia have donated to this 

i international highway of the north large tracts of land, 

(Consisting of alternate blocks of twenty miles in depth, 

alongithe line of jJie road ; besides this, the Dominion 

government makes an appropriation of twenty million 

dollars. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA, 643 

In addition to the main line, two branches will be 
built — one from the main line to Lake Superior, and one 
from Manitoba to the American boundary, where a 
road already connects with Duluth, at the head of Lake 
Superior. The Pacific terminus of this road must be 
on the narrow tongue of land between the Frazer river 
and the northern line of Washington Territory, at 
which point it will be connected with the Northern 
Pacific railroad, now building ; and that Washington 
Territory must eventually receive more direct benefit 
from this Canadian road than British Columbia must 
be clear to all familiar with the geography of the two 
sections. 

The completion of the Northern Pacific and the 
Canadian Pacific railroads will open up the rich agri- 
cultural and mineral resources of the vast region from 
the great lakes to the Pacific ocean, and inaugurate new 
channels of commerce and new organized communities, 
soon to join in the union of States from die Arctic to 
tlie Rio Grande. 



644 "^^^ GOLDEN STATE, 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

ALASKA. 

History — Geography — Area — Mountains — Forests — Rivers — Seas 
— Bays — Harbors — Islands — Climate — Seasons — Mines — Natives 
— Fish — Ani mals — Fur-seals — Commerce — Population — Towns 
— Progress — Religion — Future prospects. 

Alaska, formerly known as Prussian America, em- 
braces the extreme northwestern end of the continent 
of America; bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean 
and on the west by the Pacific ocean and Behring 
strait, which separates it from Siberia and Asiatic 
Russia, from which at the narrowest point in the 
strait it Is distant but about twenty miles. On the 
Arctic side, the eastern line terminates at Demarkatlon 
Point in the line of the one hundred and forty-first 
degree of west longitude from Greenwich, which course 
it follows south, dividing the Territory of Alaska from 
British Columbia on the east, until it reaches Mount 
St. Ellas, about sixty miles from the Pacific ocean, where 
it turns southeast, and in an Irregular line follows the 
course of the coast, leaving a belt of mountain chain 
of about an averao-e width of one hundred miles and 
about five hundred miles in length, until It reaches the 
one hundred and thirtieth degree of west longitude, a 
little north of Simpson river, and enters the Pacific 
ocean north of Graham and Queen Charlotte islands, 
thus cutting a strip of about one hundred miles in 
breadth and five hundred miles long off the western 
shore of British Columbia. PVom this point. In a 
soudiwesterly direction, the coast line of Alaska on the 



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ALASJCA. 645 

Pacific is a succession of bays, rivers, sounds, inlets, 
and islands, forming- a chain of abrupt, rugged, irreg- 
ular coast of more than seventeen thousand miles in 
extent along the waters of the Pacific, following all the 
principal inlets and island lines until it reaches Behring 
strait. Chief among the islands are Prince of Wales, 
New Archangel, Sitka, and Kodiak, all east of the 
peninsula of Alaska, and the extensive groups of 
islands known as the Aleutian islands, extending through 
thirty degrees of longitude, and reaching almost across 
the Pacific ocean toward Copper and Behring islands 
on the Asiatic coast off the shore of Kamschatka. 
This vast chain of islands, more than a hundred in 
number, form a half-circle to the north, leaving between 
it and Behring strait, Bristol bay, and Behring sea, 
into which empties the Great Yukon, one of the 
mightiest rivers on the American continent, carrying in 
its course deposits which form at its mouth the greatest 
moorland in America, and gradually decreasing the 
depth of water in Behring sea. In the semicircle 
formed to the north by this chain of islands, and twelve 
degrees off the mouth of Bristol bay in Behring sea, 
are the Islands of St. George and St. Paul, so famous 
for their valuable fur-seals. 

This terra iucogiiita of the Northwest is yet totally 
unexplored ; and although its coast line on the Pacific 
has been lone the active field of the Russian American 
Fur Company, and the whaling fleets of the United 
States, and more recendy of the American fur-seal 
hunters and fishermen of the Pacific coast, but litde 
has been seen of the vast interior region of this country, 
embracing an area of more than Jive Imndf'ed thousand 
square miles. 



646 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The early voyages of the Russian navigators, Beh- 
r'lng, Tschirikoff, and others, and the occupation of the 
Aleutian islands and the mainland by Russian merchants 
from Eastern Siberia, had given title of the country 
to the Russian nation, which, by treat}^ with Great 
Britain, in 1825, established its eastern boundary as 
now defined. Carteret, Byron, Willis, La Perouse, 
Quadra, Vancouver, and many other early navigators, 
had explored the coast of Alaska ; and the famous Cap- 
tain Cook, in his voyage round the world, had explored 
much of the coast and many of the islands of this 
remote region. So, too, the search for the lamented 
Sir John Franklin and his party drew to the western 
shore of this section Moore, Kellet, CoUison, McClure, 
and others, who have familiarized to us many of the 
important points, bays, and inlets of this quarter, as 
Point Barrow, Point Franklin, Icy cape. Cape Lisburne, 
Point Hope, Kotsebue sound. Cape Prince of Wales, 
Porte Clarence, Norton sound, Cape Romanzov, Cook 
straits, and Bristol bay, all north of the Alaska penin- 
sula and the Aleutian group. 

Alaska, formerly known as Russian America, had, 
from its discovery by the early Russian navigators, 
been in the possession of the Russian empire, whose 
dominions extend throughout so vast a portion of 
Europe and Asia, On the i8th of October, 1867, the 
government of the United States, by private purchase, 
and the payment of seven million two hundred thou- 
sand dollars in gold, received at Sitka, from the com 
missioners, formal possession and acquired title to 
Alaska, taking all the rights of the government and 
the control of the people ; leaving to the latter, how- 
ever, by stipulation of the 30th of March, 1867, the 



ALASKA. 647 

right to remain in the country and become citizens of 
the new repubhcan government erected over the late 
dominions of the Czar in America, or to return to tlie 
Russian empire. The language of the conditions is : 

"The inhabitants of the ceded Territor)-, according to their 
choice, reserve their natural allegiance, may return to Russia within 
three years ; but if they should prefer to remain in the ceded Ter- 
ritory, they (with the exception of the uncivilized tribes) shall be 
admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immu- 
nities of citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and 
protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and 
religion. The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and 
regulations as the United States may from time to time adopt in 
regard to aboriginal tribes in the country." 

Thus the United States, in the possession of the vast 
Territory from Behring strait and the Arctic ocean to 
British Columbia on the west, and from the Atlantic 
and the Gulf of Mexico on the south and east, presses 
hard Its BriUsh neighbor on flank and rear; and, as the 
imperial eagles of the Czar took flight before the stars 
and stripes on Alaska's lonely shores, so the British 
Hon, before the advance of the new freedoms of the re- 
public and the growing power and progress of America, 
must soon leave his lair and join In the new order of 
national freedom, ultimately embracing the whole con- 
tinent of America north of the Isthmus of Panama, with 
the future canal of Darien as the southern boundary 
of the republic. 

The interior of Alaska is rough, mountainous, and 
wild In the extreme. The great range of the Rocky 
mountains, which, from Patagonia to the Arctic ocean, 
passes through the whole length of the continent, 
reaches the Arctic through British Columbia, as does the 
Sierra Nevada range; but successions of jagged peaks 



648 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

and ranges dot die country, and along the entire coast 
of the Pacific a hicrh ranore of mountains, from eioht to 
ten thousand feet above the sea, covered with dense 
forests and enveloped in snows and fogs, lends a wild 
and uninviting aspect to the country. In this range 
stands the famous Mount St. Elias, in latitude 60° 22' 
and longitude 140° 54', elevated seventeen thousand 
nine hundred feet, overshadowing every mountain in 
America north of Popocatapetl, Mexico. Here, too, is 
situated Mount Fairvveather, fourteen thousand seven 
hundred feet in height. Both these mountains are clad 
in perpetual snow and are seen at a great distance, 
standing above all other mountains and above the tall, 
dense forests. Both these mountains indicate marked 
evidence of their unquenched interior volcanic forces. 
In the year 1839, Mount St. Elias emitted volumes of 
smoke, and, in 1847, flames and ashes. At this time 
there was a general volcanic disturbance of the earth 
on the whole Pacific coast north of Mount Baker, and 
throughout the Aleutian islands evidences of the for- 
mer existence of destructive volcanoes and earthquakes 
are still apparent. 

Alaska is well supplied with timber, and along a 
great portion of the coast are valuable forests of fir, 
oak, ash, cedar, and many other varieties. The cedar 
of Alaska grows to a great size, and is superior to 
almost any other wood in cabinet and house work. 
The Aleutian chain and all the other islands north of 
the peninsula of Alaska are destitute of forest or other 
trees, the natives building their huts of mud and stone, 
and using for fuel bone and the stray driftwood they 
pick up upon the shores, and building their canoes of 
skins. 



ALASKA. 649 

Rivers of Q-reat extent and dashln-^ streams course 
from the interior mountains, and find their way, through 
rough gulches and long valleys, to the Pacific and Arc- 
tic oceans. The Yukon, one of the greatest rivers 
on the American continent, has its source in British 
Columbia, in longitude one hundred and thirty west, and 
with its ten mouths empties into Behring sea near Nor- 
ton sound, in the sixty-fifth degree of west longitude ; 
and, in its serpentine course, is more than four thousand 
five hundred miles in length, often swelling to four and 
even ten miles in width in its numerous arms, dotted 
with islands, and is navigable for many thousand miles 
from its mouth. The Meloze, Porcupine, Nulato, and 
other streams ol magnitude empty into the Yukon. A 
great part of the Yukon passes through a low country, 
and broad, low valleys, with willows, shrubs, and rich 
meadows of fine pasture-ranges, skirt it on either side, 
where vast herds of deer graze throughout the year. 
South of the Yukon is the Kouskoquim river, with its 
numerous branches, extending three hundred and fifty 
miles into the interior; and south of the Aleutian penin- 
sula are a number of rivers of considerable magnitude, 
with interior valleys and rich forests. The Suschina, 
emptying into Cook's inlet, is more than two hundred 
and fifty miles in length, and the Copper river over 
two hundred miles ; and the Stekin, whose mouth is 
direcdy east of the island of Sika, extends into British 
Columbia three hundred miles. 

So far as yet ascertained, Alaska possesses but litde 
attractions for immigrants or capacity for agriculture. 
Along the Pacific coast some small valleys which will 
produce vegetables, oats, and barley, are found ; but it 
is all far north of the line where wheat-growing or 



650 THE GOT- DEM STATE. 

q-en nMl agriculture could be successfully prosecuted. 
The summer seasons are short, damp, and cloudy, the 
rainfall at Sika and vicinity being about ninety inches 
per annum, the greatest in any part of the world ; As- 
toria, Oregon, comes next with an annual fall of 
seventy- eight inches. From Behring strait to the 
eastern line of Alaska, on the sea-coast, but little snow 
falls; and although a pordon of this range is as far north 
as Greenland, yet the warm currents and winds from 
Asia so modify the climate that in many portions of the 
low valleys vegetation is green all winter, and cattle 
could live at large without the aid of man. Alaska is 
particularly valuable for its forests of valuable timber, 
mines yet to be developed — coal, gold, silver, copper, 
and other minerals — its game, and inland and water 
fur-bearing animals, and its valuable and vast fishing 
interests. 

Throughout the whole interior, on the banks of the 
Yukon and other rivers, and the islands, the Russian 
American Fur Company — a large body of Russian 
merchants, incorporated by royal authority in 1799 — 
has built its posts, and for almost a century prosecuted 
a most extensive and profitable fur-trade. (The com- 
pany existed many years before its incorporation.) 
Martin, sable, mink, otter, beaver, and other furs ob- 
tained, abound in the interior, and sea-otter and the 
valuable fur-seal are found on the islands and coast. 
Some idea of the extent of the Russian American Fur 
Company may be learned from the fact that two large 
steamers, several small ones, eiffht brics and barques, 
and numerous small boats, were constantly employed, 
and about ten thousand Russians, Aleuts, and Esqui- 
maux were encracred on the coast and islands, and six 



ALASKA. 65 r 

tliousand Koloschians eno-aeed in traffickine widi die 
interior tribes for this company. The annual produc- 
tions of the company amounted to more than a mihion 
dollars. 

The islands of St. George and St. Paul, in 57° north, 
longitude 170° west, off the mouth of Bristol bay, in 
Behring sea, are the resort of the fur-seal, so long so 
valuable a source of profit to the Russian American 
Fur Company, and now, by act of Congress, made a 
source of revenue to the federal government. By this 
act, approved July i, 1870, the government grants to 
the Alaska Commercial Company, composed of capital- 
ists of San Francisco and New York, the exclusive 
right to take fur-seal on the islands of St. George and 
St. Paul for the term of twenty years, from the i st of 
May, 1870, at an annual rent of fifty-five thousand dol- 
lars, and a tax or duty of two dollars and sixty-two and 
a half cents on each skin sold or shipped, and fifty-five 
cents on each gallon of seal oil, with twenty-five thou- 
sand dried salmon and other articles annually to the 
natives. The number of skins collected annually is 
restricted to one hundred thousand, which must be taken 
during the months of June, July, September, and Oc- 
tober of each year. Provision is made, however, for 
the natives of the islands being housed, clothed, fed, 
and educated, and for their taking, at all seasons, such 
seals for food or clothing as may be necessary. The 
late Major-General Thomas, in his official report on his 
visiting St. Paul and St. George in 1869, said: 

"The number of seals on the islands, after the young are born, 
is estimated all the way from Jive to fifteen million ; but they are 
coufitless, lying in the rookeries, covering hu?idreds of acres, like sheep 
in a pen." 



652 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

The habits of these seals are peculiar. About the 
last of April, or early part of May, the old male seals 
come from the south, and land upon St. George and 
St. Paul, (the only islands inhabited by them.) After 
thoroughly examining the coast and interior of the 
islands for several days, soon millions begin to arrive, 
and, forming themselves into families, or colonies, led 
by the old males, they slowly make their way to the 
rookeries or secluded portions of the interior. The 
able-bodied males form a circle, inside of which they 
guard the females, keeping the young and the super- 
annuated males on the outside. The object seems to 
be to protect the females and their young. Fierce bat- 
tles ensue between the guardians of the families, and 
also with them and the old and young male seals kept 
on the outer circle. 

Under the regulations of killing these seals, only the 
young and old males on the outer circle are taken. 
The native hunters, armed with clubs, make their way 
along the outer circle of the families, and drive toward 
the interior the males on the outside of the families. 
Sometimes they drive them one or two miles; here, 
out of the range of the families, they slaughter them by 
striking them on the head with their clubs, secure all 
the skins they can, and return the next day, to repeat 
the same operation, until the desired supply is obtained. 
The old males still keep guard over the females and 
their young until the young are able to take to the 
water freely, when all make for the shore and sport on 
the rocks and in the waters, all mingling again indis- 
criminately, and remaining on the islands and on their 
shores until September or October, when suddenly 
they head south, abandon the islands, and are seen no 






^'•■;« 



ALASKA. 653 

niore until the following spring, when, as before, they 
repeat their family gatherings and births in the rook- 
enes of St. Paul and St. George. It is not known where 
they go nor whence they come : doubtless they seek 
refuge in some of the islands off the Asiatic coast. 

The fur of these seals is very dark, fine, soft, and 
beautiful, like the finest black silk velvet, with a 
golden shade toward the skin. Long, coarse gray hairs 
stand out above this fine coat, and all skins are pick- 
elled, sent to London, England, (the only part of the 
world where they are dressed.) where, by a process of 
operating on the flesh side, all the long hairs are ex- 
tracted, and the skins dressed, leaving a soft, beautiful 
plush of great value and highly prized. 

Considering the great importance of the whale, 
walrus, sea-otter, salmon, cod, and other fisheries of. 
Alaska, and the needed development of the resources 
of the country, both the constitutionality and the equity 
of the national government giving absolute and exclusive 
control of the islands of St. George and St. Paul, their 
valuable fur-seals and inhabitants, into the hands of a 
few capitalists, to the exclusion of all other citizens of 
the republic, may well be seriously questioned. The 
fur seal-skins which a few years since could be bought 
of the natives of the Aleutian islands for a dollar apiece 
are now sold when dressed, throughout the United 
States, at tzuenty-Jive dollars each and upwards. 

The fur-seal of Alaska is not found in any other 
part of America. The seal so numerous off the coast 
of Newfoundland and vicinity, taken on the ice by 
fleets of steamers and vessels annually, are the common 
hair seal, brown and spotted — the skin and oil of each 
being worth only about three dollars. 



654 ^^^^ GOLDEN STATE. 

The population of Alaska is estimated at fifty thou- 
sand, less than two thousand of whom are white. On 
the cession of the country to the United States nearly 
all the Russian population left the country for St. 
Petersburg and Siberia ; but a few, however, still remain 
in the country. The Indian tribes composing the popu- 
lation are numerous, but are generally of a docile and 
submissive nature. So long have they been under the 
dominion of the Russian American Fur Company and 
the Greek church priests, that submission has become 
a fixed part of their conduct. Few locate permanently, 
but in the interior live by the chase, and on the coast 
are largely employed in killing walrus, sea-otter, fur- 
seals, and fish. On the coast and islands they all be- 
lonsf to the Greek church, and Russian and native 
priests attend to their spiritual wants and afford them 
some degree of education. The physical type and 
social qualities of the Japanese are strongly marked In 
many of the coast natives, from whom many of them, 
doubtless, have descended. The islands are generally 
barren rocks with but scant timber or vegetation, the 
natives living chiefly on rye and coarse bread furnished 
them by the fur-seal companies, seal-meat, and fish. 
The Alaska Commercial Company in possession of St. 
George and St. Paul have made some effort to main- 
tain schools among the natives; but whether or not 
the condition of the natives (so called) under this 
monopoly is not a species of slavery of American citi- 
zens is a subject worthy the closest investigation and 
study of the national government. 

So far, no towns of any importance have been built 
in Alaska. Sitka, known as New Archangel, a little 
village of a dozen frail tenements, was the -ancient 



ALASA'A. 655 

head-quarters of the Russians in Russian America. It 
is built on one of the islands of the coast, about nine 
degrees north of Queen Charlotte island, in the group 
discovered by Tschirikoff, Behring's associate, in 1741. 
It is geographically situated in latitude 57° 2' 45" north, 
longitude 135° 17' 10" west, and, although so far north, 
the weather is never cold, the thermometer rarely 
marking lower than 20° above Fahrenheit. The town 
is built on a low belt of land close to the shore, with 
the residence of the former Russian governor, a clumsy 
wooden building, standing upon a rock about one hun- 
dred feet above the other houses. The country in the 
vicinity is a succession of high hills densely wooded, and 
snow-capped mountains. On Crooze island, opposite 
the town, is Mount Edgcumbe, an extinct volcano, rising 
eight thousand feet above the sea. 

Sitka has made no progress in the last half century 
and with the exception of a few soldiers, and the United 
States custom officers, a few traders and Indians, and 
th.e old Russian Greek church, there is little to indicate 
settlement. There are no roads, either on the islands 
or mainland. The country has not yet been organized 
under a territorial government, and with the exception 
of the fishing interest being developed, there are litde 
signs of material improvement; and Sitka, with its 
dilapidated wharf, ancient Russian fort, old storehouses, 
houses painted yellow with iron roofs painted red, the 
old Russian hulks of ships on the shore propped up 
and roofed over, and the green dome of the old Greek 
church, with a few lounging soldiers and sleepy officers, 
an unemployed "collector," who has no customs to col- 
lect, an empty post-office, bands of half-nude Indians, 
troops of wolf-dogs, and nuiety inches of rain per annum, 



656 THE GOLDEN STATE. 

makes Sitka, as a place, very desirable to leave. A 
newspaper. The Alaska Herald, (supposed to be pub- 
lished in Alaska,) intended to represent the interests 
ot Alaska and Siberia and the North Pacific coast een- 
erally, is issued at San Francisco. There are four post- 
offices in Alaska — one at Fort Tongass, one at Fort 
VVrangel, one at Kodiak, and one at Sitka. A steamer 
runs between San Francisco and Sitka, a distance of 
about one thousand six hundred miles, making a trip 
once a month ; and vessels leave San Francisco occa- 
sionally for this port, which has, during the past twenty 
years, supplied California with ice, this being the only 
point south of that place on the coast where ice could 
be obtained. Since the building of railroads in Cali- 
fornia, however, the lakes in the Sierras supply the 
greater part of the ice used in California. 

The extent and value of the fishing interests of the 
newly acquired territory are very great. Off the coast, 
besides the valuable fur-seals, vast banks of cod and 
halibut, extending over an area of thirty thousand 
square miles, exist in the eastern section of Behring 
sea and about the Aleutian islands and the Kodiak 
group ; and of late years fleets of fishing vessels leave 
San Francisco in June of each year, and take cargoes 
of cod and halibut in these waters and in the waters on 
the Asiatic coast along the line of Siberia, all the way 
from Plover bay to the Ochotsk sea. In this latter region, 
and along the coast of Kamschatka at Petropaulovski, 
and even in the region of the Amoor river, fishermen 
and traders from California extend their operations,, 
and among a class of active, industrious, and in many 
cases prosperous people resident in these quarters, 
find hearty welcome and reciprocity in trade. This 




NATIVES HOUSEBUILDING, ALASKA. 




SKIN CANDZ AND INDIANS, ALASKA 



ALASA'A. 



657 



region, so easy of access to the commerce and enter- 
prise of the Pacific coast, but so remote from the seat 
of power of the Czar at St. Petersburg, has long been a 
favorite prison for political offenders; consequendy the 
present population is made up in great part of men 
of education, skill, and ambition, and in their new homes 
have lost none of their hatred of monarchy, and catch 
with eager hope every ray of liberty cast upon their 
remote shores by the Mag that gives freedom to all in 
America. 

The development of Alaska will not begin until the 
Northern Pacific railroad connects Puget sound with the 
East, and a thrifty and numerous population find their 
homes in the great cities yet to be built on the shores 
of the magnificent inland sea of Washington Territory. 
Then the whaling fleets of the North Pacific and the 
Arctic will winter in Puget sound, and vast fleets of 
American vessels will draw from the shores of Alaska 
the hidden treasures of the deep — whale, walrus, seal, 
cod, halibut, and salmon. Mines of gold and silver, 
once exhausted, never recuperate: the treasures of the 
seas are never diminished, but annually multiplied as 
the leaves of the forests. 

In the rich treasure-vaults of the deep, where, on the 
now lonely shores of Alaska, the illusive mirage paints 
its wondrous panorama, and the aurora borcalis lights 
northern skies, will the future populous cities of the 
Pacific draw untold wealth, and fleets of American 
ships find employment; and on the placid waters of 
the Northern Pacific will the American seaman find a 
welcome refuge from the gales and winter frosts ol 
the Atlantic seaboard. 
42 



658 ^^/^' GOLDEN STATE. 

CHAPTER XL. 

APPENDIX. 

Population of the United States: native, foreifrn, colored, and Chi-iese — Popula- 
tion of the Pacific coast : native, foreign, and Cliinese — Population by counties 
of California, Oretfon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Washington Territoi-y : 
also, aggregate of Alaska and British Columbia — Cliinese in the United States 
and on the Pacific coast — Distances from San Francisco to various points 
inland and to various ports and countries and cities of the United States. 

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES— 1870, 

Including all the States and Territories. Aggregate. 38,555,983. 
Native, 32,989,434 ; foreign, 5,566,546 ; colored, 4,880,009 ; Chi- 
nese, 63,149; Japanese, 55. 

POPULATION OF THE PACIFIC COAST, 

Embracing California. Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, 
Washington Territory, British Columbia, and Alaska. Aggregate, 
841,059. Native, exclusive of British Columbia and Alaska, 
539,467 ; foreign, exclusive of British Columbia and Alaska, 
289,652; Chinese on the Pacific coast, exclusive of British Co- 
hunbia and Alaska, and embracing Montana, 60,765 ; in the re- 
mainder of the whole Union, 2,389. 

POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA— 1870. 

Total, 560,247. Native, 350,416 ; foreign, 209,831. 
Representing the States and countries as follows : 
Nttivc — Alabama, 1,257; Arkansas, 2,396; California, 163,653; 
Connecticut, 2,977; Delaware, 408; Florida, 134; Georgia, 
1,024; Illinois, 10,689; Indiana, 5,190; Iowa, 5,367; Kansas, 
279; Kentucky, 6,605; Louisiana, 1,979; Maine, 11,261; Mary- 
land, 2,596 ; Massachusetts, 15.334; Michigan, 3,032 ; Minne- 
sota, 461; Mississippi, 994; Missouri, 16,050; Nebraska, 237; 
Nevada, 1,089; New Hampshire, 2,720; New Jersey, 2,598 ; New 
\'ork, 33,766; North Carolina, 1,640; Ohio, 12,735; Oregon, 
2,471; Pennsylvania, 11,208; Rhode Island, 1,419; South Caro- 
lina, 851; Tennessee, 4,686; Texas, 1,886; Vermont, 3,500; 
Virginia and West Virginia, 5,293; Wisconsin, 3,088; Alaska, 28; 
Arizona, 93 ; Colorado, 60 ; Dakota, 7 ; District of Columbia, 
458; Idaho, 84; Indian Territory, 19; Montana, 65; New Mexico, 
175; Utah, 850; Washington, 206; Wyoming, 21. Colored, 4,272 



POPULATION OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



659 



The foreign population represents the nations of the earth as 
follows: Africa, 48; Asia, 56; Atlantic islands, 943; Australia, 
1,593; Austria, 1,078; Belgium, 291; Bohemia, 90; Canada, 
6,977; China, 48,823; New Brunswick, 1,170; Newfoundland, 
72 ; Nova Scotia, 1,438 ; Prince Edward island, 54 ; British Amer- 
ica, (not specified,) 949 ; Central America, 124; Cuba, 45; Den- 
mark, 1,837; France, 8,068; Germany, 28,700 — as follows : Baden, 
2,143; Bavaria, 2,547; Brunswick, 61 ; Hamburg, 934 ; Hanover, 
2,555 ; Hessen, 1,500 ; Lubec, 12 ; Mecklenburg, 95 ; Nassau, 49 ; 
Oldenburg, no; Prussia, (not specified,) 14,782; Saxony, 622; 
Weimer, 9; Wurtemburg, 1,461 ; Germany, (not specified,) 2,820; 
England, 17,699; Ireland, 54,421; Scotland, 4,949; Wales, 1,517; 
Greece, 97: Greenland, i ; Holland, 452; Hungary, 102; India, 
63; Italy, 4,660; Japan, 33 ; Luxemburg, 11; Malta, 5; Mexico^ 
9,309; Norway, 1,000; Pacific islands, 93; Poland, 804; Por- 
tugal, 2,507; Russia, 540; Sandwich islands, 279; South America, 
1,940; Spain, 405; Sweden, 1,944; Switzerland, 2,927; Turkey, 
17; West Indies, 340. 

POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA BY COUNTIES— 1870. 



Counties. 



County-Seat. 



Alameda , 

Alpine 

Amador , 

Butte 

Calaveras 

Colusa 

Contra Costa 

Del Norte , 

El Dorado , 

Fresno 

Humboldt 

Inyo 

Kern 

Klamath 

Lake 

Lassen 

Los Angeles 

Marin 

Mariposa 

Mendocino 

Merced 

Mono 

Monterey 

Napa 

Nevada 

Placer 

Plumas 

Sacramento 

San B'irnardino. . . . 

Sail Diego 

San Francisco 

San Joaouin 

San L'.iis Obispo.. . 

S.in Mateo 

Santa Barbara 



24,237 


14,382 


9.855 


685 


485 


200 


9.532 


5,449 


4.133 


".403 


7,428 


3.975 


8,895 


4,677 


4,218 


6,165 


5,088 


1,077 


8,461 


5,79' 


2,670 


2,022 


1,580 


442 


10,309 


6,287 


4,022 


6.336 


4,972 


1,364 


6,140 


4.646 


1,494 


1,956 


1,164 


792 


2.925 


2,157 


768 


1.674 


783 


891 


2,969 


2,483 


486 


1.327 


1,178 


149 


15,309 


10,984 


4,325 


6,9°3 


3.761 


3.142 


4,572 


2,192 


2,380 


7,545 


6,146 


1.399 


2,807 


2,196 


611 


430 


3°5 


125 


9,876 


7,670 


2,206 


7,163 


5,394 


1 769 


19,134 


10,479 


8,655 


",357 


6,167 


5,19° 


4,489 


2,414 


2,075 


26,830 


16,228 


10,602 


3,988 


3.328 


660 


4 95' 


3.743 


1,208 


149,473 


75,753 


73,720 


21,050 


74,824 


6,226 


4,772 


3,833 


939 


6,635 


3.497 


3.138 


7,784 


6,538 


1.246 



22,106 


86 


III 


1,933 


676 


I 




8 


7,870 


81 




1.641 


9.18s 


84 


40 


2,094 


7,400 


♦5 


18 


1,432 


5.389 


81 


424 


271 


8,271 


21 


9 


i6d 


1,009 


33 


774 


217 


■8,589 


133 


6 


1.581 


3.259 


IS 


2,635 


427 


6,025 




76 


39 


1,608 


«7 


232 


29 


2,193 


4 


585 


143 


1,069 


3 


61 


542 


2,825 


8 


17 


119 


1,309 


.... 


I 


17 


14,720 


134 


219 


236 


6,394 


22 


136 


361 


3,344 


116 


8 


1.104 


6,865 


9 


542 


129 


2,548 


37 


36 


186 


386 




s 


42 


9,428 


IS 


203 


230 


6,725 


112 


66 


260 


16,334 


162 


9 


2,629 


8,850 


99 


I 


2,407 


3.571 


3 


5 


911 


22,725 


479 


2S 


3,598 


3,964 




.... 


16 


4,838 


15 


28 


70 


136,059 


1,341 


55 


12,018 


19,192 


230 




1,628 


4,567 


9 


137 


59 


6,099 


10 


7 


519 


7.483 


109 


163 


29 



San Leandro. 

Silver Mountain. 

Jackson. 

Oroville. 

San Andreas. 

Colusa. 

Martinez. 

Crescent City. 

Placerville. 

Millerton. 

Eureka. 

I ndependence. 

Havilah. 

Orleans Bar. 

I.akeport. 

SusanviUe. 

Los Angeles, 

San Rafael. 

Mariposa. 

Ukiah. 

Snelling. 

Bridgeport. 

Monterey. 

Napa City. 

Nevada City. 

Auburn. 

Quincy. 

Sacramento. 

San Bernardino. 

Sa'.i Diego; 

San Francisco. 

Stockton. 

San Luis Obispo. 

Redwood City. 

Santa Barbara. 



66o THE GOLDEN STATE. 

POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA BY COUNTIES— r^«/«««^^. 



Counties. 



Santa Clara. 
Santa Cruz.. 

Shasta 

Sierra 

Siskiyou 

Solano , 

Sonoma .... 
Stanislaus .., 

Sutter 

Tehama 

Trinity 

Tulare 

Tuolumne 

Yolo 

Yuba.: 



9.899 



Totals 560,223 350,393 309,830 499,324 4,611 



fe 



9,005 
1,985 
1,236 
2,803 
2,527 
5,608 
4,163 
1,352 
1,081 

753 
1,815 

554 
3,968 
2,121 
4,707 



24,537 
8,532 
3,529 
4,781 
5,3" 
15,871 
19,184 
6,189 

4,791 
3,j66 

1,950 
4,379 
6,540 
9,321 
8,367 



179 
53 
44 
29 

32 
78 
80 
4 
31 
146 
29 

39 
68 
69 
151 



139 
4 
3 

117 



County-Seat. 



1,518 
156 
574 
809 

1,457 
919 

473 
306 
208 
275 

1,095 
99 

1,539 
392 

2,333 



49,229 



San Jose. 

Santa Cruz. 

ShastR. 

Downieville. 

Yreka. 

Fairfield. 

Santa Rosa. 

Modesto. 

Yuba City. 

Red Bluff. 

Weavervillo. 

Visalia. 

Sonora. 

Woodland. 

Marysville. 



POPULATION OF OREGON— 1870. 

Total, 90,923. Native, 79,323; foreign, 11,600. 

Representing principally the States and countries as follows: 

Native — Arkansas, 491; California, 1,674; Connecticut, 263; 
Illinois, 4,722; Indiana, 3,451; Iowa, 3,695; Kentucky, 2,387; 
Maine, 676; Maryland, 330; Massachusetts, 756; Michigan, 466 ; 
Missouri, 7,061; New Hampshire, 219; New York, 3,092; North 
Carolina, 457; Ohio, 4,031; Oregon, 36,932; Pennsylvania, 1,921 ; 
Tennessee, 1,544 ; Vermont, 432 ; Virginia, 1,447 j Wisconsin, 434; 
Idaho, 144; Washington, 592. Colored, 346. 

Foreign — China, 3,326; Canada, 877; Nova Scotia, 86; British 
America, (not specified,) 124; France, 308; Germany, 1,875; 
England, 1,347; Ireland, 1,967; Scotland, 394; Italy, 31; Mexico, 
51; Norway, 76; Poland, 65 ; Portugal, 48 ; Russia, 67; Sweden, 
205; Switzerland, 160. 



Counties. 



Baker 

Benton. . . 
Clackamas 
Clatsop. . . 
Columbia. 

Coos 

Curry 

Douglas... 

Grant 

Jackson 



2,804 

4,584 

5,993 

1,255 

863 

1,644 

504 
6,066 
2,251 
4,778 



Native. 



1.757 

4,341 

5.436 

952 

744 

1.255 

426 

5,684 

1,001 

3,721 



Foreign. Chinese, 



1,047 
243 

557 

303 
119 

389 
78 

382 
1,250 
1.057 



679 

50 
13 

13 
12 

76 

939 
634 



POPULAriON OF THE. PACIFIC COAST. 66 1 

POPULATION OF OREGON— CyM//«//^</. 



Counties. 

Josephine 

Lane 

Linn 

Marion 

Multnomah 

Pollc 

Tillamook 

Umatilla 

Union 

Wasco 

Washington. . . . . 
Yamhill 



Totals. 



1,204 
6,426 

8,717 

9,964 

11,510 

4,701 

408 

2,916 

2,552 
2,509 
4,261 
5,012 



Native. 



817 
6,291 

8,474 
9,049 

8,425 

4,573 
380 
2,692 
2,338 
2,131 
4,038 
4,798 



Foreign. 



387 
135 
243 
916 

3,085 

128 

28 

224 

214 

378 
223 
214 



Chinese. 



223 

7 

2 

27 
506 

2 



70 

45 
28 



POPULATION OF NEVADA— 1870. 

Total, 42,491. Native, 23,690; foreign, 18,801. 

Representing principally the States and comitries as follows: < 

Native — California, 2,360; Illinois, 1,141; Indiana, 520; Ken- 
tucky, 603; Maine, 1,083; Massachusetts, 998; Missouri, 1,053; 
Nevada, 3,352; New York, 3,265; Ohio, 1,858; Pennsylvania, 
1,458; Virginia, 551 ; Utah, 954. Colored, 357. 

Foreign — Austria, 157; Canada, 1,952; China, 3,143; Nova 
Scotia, 231; Germany, 2,181; England, 2,549; Ireland, 5,035; 
Scotland, 630; Wales, 301; Italy, 199; Mexico, 225; Sweden, 
217; Switzerland, 247. 



Counties. 



Churchill. , 
Do.uglas ... 

Elko 

Esmeralda. 
Humboldt. 
Oander. . . . 
Wincoln . . . 

Nyon 

Lrye 

Stomsby . . . 

Wop 

oLry , 

Rashoe . . . , 
Lhite Pine. 



Totals. 


Native. 


Foreign. 


Chinese. 


196 


140 


56 


16 , 


1,215 


791 


424 


23 . 


3,447 


2,054 


1,393 


439 


1,553 


1,065 


488 


56 


1,916 


1,065 


851 


220 


2,815 


1,580 


1.235 


218 


2,985 


2,148 


837 


23- 


1,837 


893 


944 


116 


1,087 


760 


327 


6 


3,668 


1,760 


1,908 


767 


-^iz 


108 


25 


4 


11,359 


5,557 


5,802 


745 


1 3,091 


1,997 


1,094 


221 


7,189 


3,772 


3,417 


292 



662 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



POPULATION OF UTAH— 1870. 

Total, 86,786. Native, 56,084; foreign, 30,702. 

Representing principally the States and countries as follows : 

Native — Alabama, 145; California, 308; Connecticut, 234; 
Illinois, 2,105; Indiana, 399; Iowa, 1,492; Kentucky, 317; 
Maine, 239 ; Massachusetts, 492 ; Michigan, 228 ; Mississippi, 125 ; 
Missouri, 908; Nebraska, 272 ; New Hampshire, 165 ; New Jersey, 
322; New York, 2,247 ; North Carolina, 215 ; Ohio, 1,133; Penn- 
sylvania, 1,315; Tennessee, 405; Texas, 104; Vermont, 325; 
Virginia, 2S7 ; Wisconsin, 117; Utah, 41,250. Colored, 118. 

Foreigti — Australia, 74; Africa, (white,) 128; China, 445; 
Canada, 566; New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 11 1; Denmark, 
4,956 ; France, 63 ; Prussia, 152 ; Germany, 206 ; England, 16,073 ; 
Ireland, 502 ; Scotland, 2,391 ; Wales, 1,783; Holland, 122 ; Italy, 
74; Norway, 613; Russia, 13; Sweden, 1,790; Switzerland, 509. 



Counties 

Beaver 

Box Elder 

Cache 

Davis 

Iron .... 

Juba 

Kane 

Millard 

Morgan 

Piute 

Rich 

Rio Virgin 

Salt Lake 

San Pete 

Sevier 

Summit 

Tooele 

Utah 

Wasatch 

Washington 

Weber 



Totals. 



2,007 

4,855 
8,229 

4,459 
2,277 
2,034 
1,513 
2,753 
1,972 
82 

1,955 
450 

18,337 
6,786 

19 

2,512 

2,177 

[2,203 

1,244 

Z>°(' '- 
7,858 



Native. 



1,405 

2,795 
5,121 
3,010 
1,610 

1,344 

1,292 

1,974 

1,215 

54 

1,291 

368 

10,894 

3,890 

1,448 

1,350 

8,439 

887 

2,455 

5,242 



Foreign. Chinese, 



602 
2,060 
3,108 

1,449 
667 
690 
221 

779 
757 

28 
664 

82 

7,443 
2,869 

19 

1,064 

827 

3,764 

357 

609 

2,616 



403 



39 



POPULATION OF ALASKA— 1870. 
Estimated at 50,000 Indians and 2,000 whites. 



POPULATION OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



663 



POPULATION OF ARIZONA— 1870. 

Total, 9,658. Native, 3,849 ; foreign, 5,809. 

Representing principally the States and countries as follows: 

Native — Arizona, 1,240; California, 156; New York, 481; 
Ohio, 235 ; Pennsylvania, 275. Colored, 26. 

Foreig/i — Austria, 24; British America, 143, China, 20, Den- 
mark, 19; England, 137; France, 69; Germany, 379; Ireland, 
495; Scotland, 54; Sweden, 14; Switzerland, 23. 



Counties. 


Totals. 

179 
5.716 
2,142 
1,621 


Native. 


Foreign. 


Chinese. 


Mohave 


122 

1,900 

1,208 

619 


57 
3,816 

934 

1,002 




Pima 




Yavapai 


12 


Yuma. . 


8 









POPULATION OF IDAHO— 1872. 

Total, 14,999. Native, 7,114; foreign, 7,885. 

Representing principally the States and countries as follows: 

Native — Alabama, 26 ; Arkansas, 24 ; California, 230 ; Connec- 
ticut, 59; Georgia, 23; Illinois, 400; Indiana, 252; Iowa, 312; 
Kentucky, 243; Maine, 242; Maryland, 65; Massachusetts, 200; 
Michigan, 69 ; Missouri, 536; Nebraska, 27 ; New Hampshire, 54: 
New Jersey, 49; New York, 800; North Carolina, 44; Ohio, 550; 
Oregon, 347; Pennsylvania, 416; Tennessee, 109; Texas, 26; 
Vermont, 75; Virginia, 175; Wisconsin, 118; Idaho, 925 ; Utah, 
478 ; Washington, 47. Colored— 60. 

Foreign — Atlantic islands, 71; Austria, 26; British America, 
335; China, 4,267; Denmark, ^2> ; France, 144; Germany, 599; 
England, 540; Ireland, 986; Scotland, 114; Wales, 335; Italy, 
11; Mexico, 43; Norway, 61; Sweden, 91; Switzerland, 52. 



CoUSTIBS. 



Ada 

Altures .. . . 

Boise 

Idaho 

Lemhi . . . . 
Nez Perces 
Oneida. . . . 
Owyhee. . . 
Shoshone. 



2,675 
688 

3.834 

S49 

988 

1,607 

1,922 

1. 713 
722 



2,178 
286 

1,1^3 
205 

509 

609 

1,189 

862 

9Z 



Foreign. 



497 

403 

2>65i 

644 

479 
998 

733 

851 
629 



Chines s. 



78 

314 

1.754 
425 
120 

747 

368 
468 



664 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



POPULATION OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY— 1870. 

Total, 23,955. Native, 18,931 ; foreign, 5,024. 

Representing principally the States and countries as follows : 

Native — Arkansas, • 98 ; California, 400; Connecticut, 120; 
Georgia, 24; Illinois, 967; Indiana, 806 ; Iowa, 749 ; Kansas, 34; 
Kentucky, 402 ; Louisiana, 59 ; Maine, 858 ; Maryland, 102 ; 
Massachusetts, 400; Michigan, 114; Minnesota, 63; Missouri, 
946; Nebraska, 26; New Hampshire, 96;' New Jersey, 86; New 
York, 1,097; North Carolina, 71; Ohio, 866; Oregon, 1,615; 
Pennsylvania, 527; Rhode Island, 54; South Carolina, 28; Tenn- 
essee, 196; Texas, 44; Vermont, 163; Virginia, 311; Wisconsin, 
203; Idaho, 76; Montana, 44; Utah, 30; Washington, 5,964. 
Colored — 207. 

Foreign — Australia, 37; Austria, 19; British America, 970; 
Chi-na, 234; Denmark, 84; France, 113; Germany, 645; En- 
gland, 791; Ireland, 1,097; Scotland, 309; Wales, 44; Holland, 
25; Italy, 24; Mexico, 12; Norway, 104; Poland, 25. 



Counties. 

Chehalis. 

Clallam 

Clarke 

Cowlitz 

Island . 

Jefferson 

King 

Kitsap 

Klikitat 

Lewis 

Mason 

Pacific 

Pierce. 

Skamania 

Snohomish 

Stevens 

Thurston 

Wahkiakum 

Walla Walla 

Whatcom 

Wakima 

Island of San Juan 



Totals. 



401 
408 

;,o8i 

626 

,268 
!,I20 

866 

3=9 
888 
289 

738 

:,409 

599 

734 

;,2 46 

270 

;>3oo 

534 
432 

554 



381 

274 

2,606 

645 

400 

690 

1,605 

434 
289 

779 

225 

591 

1,144 

108 

413 
488 

1. 931 

190 
4,692 

341 
410 

295 



FoKEiGN. 



20 
134 

475 

85 

226 

578 
515 
432 

40 
109 

64 

147 
265 

25 
186 
246 

315 
80 

608 

193 
22 

259 



Chinese. 



I 

7 
19 
IZ 
13 

I 
I 
6 
7 

3 

42 

19 
^5 

42 
21 



POPULATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA— i J 

Estimated at 50,000 Indians and 10,000 whites. 



TABLES OF DISTANCES. 665 

DISTANCES FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO VARIOUS POINTS INLAND. 



Miles. 

Alameda 9 

Alviso 46 

Alta 186 

Auburn 152 

Austin 437 

Benicia 30 

Big Trees 198 

Bridgeport 289 

Carson City 255 

Cisco 209 

Colfax 171 

Colusa 192 

Copperopolis 155 

Crystal Springs 23 

Diamond Springs.... 164 

Downieville 232 

Dutch Flat 184 

Eureka 230 

Fairfield 50 

Folsom 139 

Fort Yuma 73^ 

Fort Point 4 

Genoa 141 

Geyser Springs 118 

Goat Island :... \)A, 

Great Salt Lake City, 827 

Havilah 450 

Haywards 19 

Healdsburg 80 



Milks. 

Humboldt Lake 345 

Jackson 185 

Lake Tahoe 228 

Lone Mountain 3 

Los Angeles 480 

Lower Lake 120 

Mariposa 211 

Marysville 171 

Martinez 33 

Mare Island 28 

Millerton 175 

Mokelumne Hill 180 

Mountain View 38 

Monte Diablo 44 

Napa 50 

Nevada 182 

Newcastle 148 

New Almaden 67 

Oakland 7 

Oroville 196 

Pacheco 38 

Petaluma 48 

Pino 142 

Placerville 167 

Red Bluff. 247 

Redwood 31 

Rio Vista 73 

Ruby Valley 440 

Sacramento 117 



Miles. 

San Andreas 170 

San Bernardino 500 

San Juan South 94 

San Jose 51 

San Leandro If 

San Mateo 20 

San Quentin 12 

San Rafael 12 

Santa Clara 47 

Seal Rock 6 

Silver Mountain 257 

Snelling 187 

Sonora 187 

Sonoma 52 

Stockton 117 

Suisun 50 

Sutterville 114 

Vallejo 28 

Visalia 308 

Warm Springs 37 

Weaverville 365 

White Sulp. Springs, 67 

Willow Springs 686 

Woodbridge 85 

Yosemite Valley 247 

Yreka 400 

Yuba City 167 



DISTANCES FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO VARIOUS PORTS. 



Miles. 

Acapulco, Mexico . 1,840 

Anaheim, California 312 

Calcutta, via Honolulu 11,380 

Callao, Peru 4,010 

Canton, via Honolulu 7,097 

Cape San Lucas, Mexico 1,450 

Juaymas, *' ...... I,S30 

Half Moon Bay, California 46 

Hong Kong, via Honolulu 7,000 

Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands... 2,080 

Jeddo, Japan 5,000 

Kanagawa, Japan 5,ooo 

La Paz, Mexico 1,300 

Liverpool, via Cape Horn 13,100 

Manzanillo, Mexico 1,55° 

Mazatlan, " 1,39° 

Melbourne, via Honolulu 7, 160 

Monterey, California 86 



Miles. 

New York, via Cape Horn 14,000 

New York, via Panama 5,287 

Panama, New Grenada 3,260 

Rio Janeiro, Brazil 8,320 

San Bias, Mexico i,470 

San Diego, California 450 

San Pedro, " 380 

San Buenaventura, California... 325 

San Luis Obispo, " ... 205 

Santa Barbara, <' ... 292 

San Simeon, " ... 165 

Santa Cruz, " ... 64 

Shanghai, via Honolulu 6,740 

Sydney, via Honolulu 6,700 

Tahiti, Society islands 4,490 

Valparaiso, Chili 5, 300 

Yokohama, via Honolulu 5,5^0 



666 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



DISTANCES FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO VARIOUS POINTS 
VIA CENTRAL AND UNION PACIFIC RAILROADS AND 
THEIR CONNECTIONS. 

San Francisco to Chicago, 2,406 ; St. Louis, 2,388 ; Baltimore, 
3,232; Philadelpliia, 3,230; New York, 3,300 ; Boston, 3,540. 



West from Omaha. 


Elevation. 


Distance. 


966 




1,686 


132 


1,850 


154 


2,789 


291 


3'5oo 


377 


4,073 


414 


6,041 


516 


8,242 


549 


7,123 


57« 


6,550 


645 


6,732 


709 


6,685 


785 


6,340 


858 


6,879 


966 


4,340 


1,032 


4,905 


1,084 


5.970 


1,214 


4,903 


1,330 


4,508 


1,391 


4,331 


1,451 


4,077 


1,587 


4,507 


1,622 


5.845 


1,656 


7,017 


1,671 


5,939 


1,684 


3,612 


1,707 


2,421 


1,722 


30 


1,775 


23 


1,822 


48 


1,897 


12 


1,908 


II 


1,911 




1,914 



Omaha 

Lone Tree , 

Grand Island .- 

North Platte 

Julesburg , 

Sidney 

Cheyenne , 

Sherman, (summit of Rocky mountains) 

Laramie 

Medicine Bow 

Rawlings 

Bitter Creek 

Bryan , 

Wahsatch , 

Ogden, (head of Salt lake) 

Promontory 

Toano 

Carlin 

Battle Mountain 

Winnemucca 

Wadsworth 

Reno 

Truckee 

Summit (of the Sierra Nevadas) , 

Cisco 

Alta 

Colfax 

Sacramento 

Stockton , 

San Leandro , 

Brooklyn 

Oakland Wharf 

San Francisco. 



East fkom 

San 
Francisco. 



1,914 
1,782 
1,760 
1,623 

1.537 
1,500 

1,398 

1.365 

1,341 

1,269 

1,205 

1,129 

1,056 

948 

882 

830 

700 

584 

523 

463 

327 
292 
258 

243 
230 
207 
192 
117 
90 



TABLES OF DISTANCES. 



667 



DISTANCES ON THE COAST NORTH FROM SAN FRANCISCO— 
. SHORTEST SAILING ROUTE IN NAUTICAL MILES. 



CaL 



Bolinos Point, 
Point Reyes, 
Tomales, 
Boclega Point, 
Point Arenas, 
Mendocino City, 
Point Gordo, 
Cape Mendocino, 
False Cape, 
Table Bluff, 
Humboldt Bar, 
Trinidad Head, 
Crescent City, 
Rogue river, 
Port Orford, 
Cape Blanco, 
Cape Arago, 
Umpqua, 
Cape Perpetua, 
Cape Foul weather, 
Cape Lookout, 



Oregc 



19 
36 
45 
54. 
105 
126 
188 
201 
206 
217 
223 
241 
2S3 
325 
345 
356 
387 
410 

447 
474 
510 



False Tallamook, Oregon 536 

Tallamook Head, " 547 

Astoria, " c;6o 

Cape Disappointment " 567 

Vancouver, Washington Terr.... 635 

Portland, Oregon 670 

Port Angeles, Washington Terr.. 740 

Victoria, Vancouver island 746 

Esquimau, " 760 

Port Townsend, Washington T.. 770 
Bellingham bay, " .. 800 

Seattle, " •• 810 

New Westminster, British Col... 815 
Steilacoom, Washington Terr.... 840 
Olympia, " .... 860 

New Archangel, Sitka island 1,290 

Sitka, Alaska 1,480 

Kodiak, " 2,030 

Onalaska " 2,591 

St. Paul's island, Alaska 2,821 

Cape Prince of Wales 3.341 



668 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



CENSUS OF CITIES— 1870. 

The following table contains the population of each of the one hundred and 
thirty-four largest cities in the United States. It shows all the cities having a 
population of ten thousand and upward : 



23. 

24. 
25. 
s6. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31- 
32- 
33- 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37- 
38. 
39- 
40. 

41- 
42- 

43- 
44- 

45. 
46. 
47- 
48. 

49- 
50. 
51- 
52- 
53- 
54- 
55. 
56. 
57- 
58. 
59- 
60. 
61. 
62. 
63. 
64. 
6s. 
66. 
67, 



City. State. Populat'n. | 

New York New York 942,292 

Philadelphia. . . Pennsylvania 674,022 

Broolclyn New York 396,099 

St. Louis M issouri 310,864 

Chicago Illinois 298,977 

Baltimore Maryland 267,354 

Boston Massachusetts .... 250,526 

Cincinnati Ohio 216,239 

New Orleans. .Louisiana 191,418 

San Francisco. .California 149,473 

Buffalo New York 117,714 

Washington District Columbia. 109,199 

Newark New Jersey 105,059 

Louisville Kentucky 100, 753 

Cleveland Ohio 92,829 

Pittsburg Pennsylvania 86,076 

Jersey City New Jersey 82,546 

Detroit Michigan 79,577 

Milwaukee Wisconsin 71,440 

Albany New York 69,422 

Providence . . . .Rhode Island 68,904 

Rochester New York 62,386 

Alleghany Pennsylvania 53, 180 

Richmond Virginia 51,038 

New Haven Connecticut 50,840 

Charleston South Carolina. . . . 48,956 

Indianapolis .. .Indiana 48,244 

Troy New York 46,465 

Syrxcuse New York 43,051 

Worcester Massachusetts .... 41,105 

Lowell Massachusetts .... 40,928 

Memphis Tennessee 40,226 

Cambridge Massachusetts .... 39,684 

Hartford Connecticut 37,180 

Scranton Pennsylvania 35,092 

Reading Pennsylvania 33,93° 

Paterson New Jersey 33,579 

Kansas City.. . .Missouri 32,260 

Mobile Alabama 32,034 

Toledo Ohio 31 ,584 

Portland Maine. 31.419 

Columbia Ohio 31,274 

Wilmington.. . .Delaware 30,841 

Dayton Ohio 3°, 473 

Lawrence Massachusetts .... 28,921 

Utica New York 28,804 

Charlestown. . .Massachusetts .... 28,323 

Savannah Georgia 28,235 

Lynn Massachusetts .... 28,233 

Fall River Massachusetts.... 26,768 

Springfield Massachusetts .... 26,703 

N;jshville Tennessee 25,865 

Covington Kentucky 24,505 

Quincy Illinois 24,052 

Manchester New Hampshire.. 23,536 

Harrisburg Pennsylvania 23,104 

Peoria Illinois 22,849 

Evans ville Indiana 21,830 

Atlanta Georgia 21,789 

Lancaster Pennsylvania 21,295 

Oswego ...New York 20,910 

F.lizaheth New Jersey 20,832 

Hobi>ken New Jersey 20,297 

Pout;likeepsie..New York 20,080 

Davenport low.i 20,038 

St. Paul Minnesota 20,030 

Erie Pennsylvania 19,646 



87- 



90. 
91. 
92. 
93- 
94- 
95. 
96. 
97- 
98. 

99- 
100. 

lOI. 

102. 
103. 
104. 
105. 
106. 
107. 
108. 
109. 
no. 
III. 

112. 
113. 
114. 
115. 

n6. 



City. State. 

St. Joseph Missouri . 



Populat'm. 



Wheeling West Virginia 

Norfolk Virginia 

Bridgeport Connecticut 

Petersburg Virginia 

Chelsea Massachusetts .... 

Dubuque Iowa 

Bangor Maine 

Leavenworth . . . Kansas 

F'ort Wayne Indiana 

Springfield Illinois 

Auburn New York 

Newburg New York 

Norwich Connecticut 

Grand Rapids. .Michigan 

Sacramento . . . .California 

Terre Haute Indiana 

Omaha Nebraska 

Williamsport . . . Pennsylvania 

Elmira New York 

New Albany Indiana 

Augusta Georgia 

Cohoes New York 

Newport Kentucky 

Burlington Iowa 

Lexington Kentucky , 

Burlington Vermont. 

Galveston Texas 

Lewiston Maine 

Alexandria Virginia 

Lafayette Indiana 

Wilmington North Carolina 

Haverhill Massachusetts 

Minneapolis ... .Minnesota 

Sandusky Ohio 

Salt Lake Utah 

Keokuk Iowa 

Fond du Lac. . .Wisconsin 

Binghampton.. .New York 

Oshkosh Wisconsin 

Vicksburg Mississippi 

San Antonio. . . .Texas 

Concord New Hampshire. . 

Des Moines Iowa •. . 

Jackson Michigan 

Georgetown . . . .District Columbia. 

Aurora Illinois 

Hamilton Ohio 

Rockford Illinois 

Schenectady . . .New York 

Rome Ne\r York 

Waterbury Connecticut 

Macon Gecrgia 

Madison Indiana 

Altoona Pennsylvania 

Portsmouth . . . .Ohio 

Montgomery . . .Alabama 

Nashua New Hampshire.. 

Oakland California 

Portsmouth Virginia 

Biddeford Maine 

Hannibal Missouri 

Ogdensburg . . . .New York 

Stockton California 

('oiiiici! Bluffs. . Iowa 

Zanesville Ohio 

Akron Ohio 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



Across the Continent, 358-367, 

Agriculture, early, in California, 87, 
130-143. Lands in California, 154. 
Flowers and seasons, 304-308. Agricul- 
ture and commerce, 309—317. Vegetables, 
fruits, and nuts, 324-334. Colleges to 
promote, 388. Of each county in the 
State of California, 443-523. In Oregon, 
529-538. Wheat, cattle, horses, &c.» 
537-539- In Nevada, 544-546. In 
Utah, 551. In Alaska, 649. In Idaho, 
609-612. In Washington Territory 
622-631. 

Ai,AMEDA county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, cities, population, &c., 488-490. 

Alaska explored, 36; settled, 65. Russian 
American Fur Company, 65. Sold to 
the United States, 70-71. Area, climate, 
mountains, rivers, forests, mines, islands, 
cities, population, resources, &c., 656. 
Population, 663. 

Alkaline lakes, 172. 

All nations represented in tlie State prison, 
408-41^3. 

Alcatras island, 195. 

"All of one flesh," 135, 141. 

Almonds, nuts, and fruits, 330-332. 

Alpine county, area, soil, climate, moun- 
tains, population, &c., 5 1 2-5 13. 

Alvarado and Castro's rebellion, 60. 

AmaD(JR county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 511-512. 

America, colonization of, 33-39. North- 
men in, 34-35. South and Central ex- 
plored, 35-38. Operations in California, 
60-62. Influence in California, 67-72; 
Oregon, 71-76. Citizens in trouble in 
California, 75-79. Vessels on California 
coast, 76-77- Citizens ofj in California, 



86-89. Flag hoisted in California by 
Slf^at, 94-96. Flag hoisted over San 
Francisco by Montgomery, 96-97. Ac- 
quisition of territory, 86-115. Rule in 
California, 1 16-130. Influence in Japan, 

423- 
American river, 183. 
Amerigo Vespucci names the new world, 

35- 

Angel island, 195. 

Apaches in Arizona, 604. 

Apostolus Valerianos discovers Strait of 
Fuca, 616-620. 

Appendix, population of United States, 
Pacific coast, and all its States and Terri- 
tories, 658-665. 

Apples and other fruits, 327-331. In 
Oregon, 537-539. 

Arguello, Jose, commandant at San 
Francisco, refuses admission to American 
vessels, 68-69. 

Arizona, Chinese in, 422. Newspapers 
in, 465. Area, soil, climate, rivers, 
forests, mountains, mines, resources, 
population, &c., 600-606. Population 
by counties, 662. 

Arizona, gold product of, 267. 

Ashley, W. H., with Astor in the fur 
trade, 75. 

Asphaltum and its uses, 209, 277. 

Astoria founded, 71-76. English occupy, 
71-76. Formally surrender, 74. Call it 
Fort George, 74. Commodore Wilkes at, 
81-82. Rainfall at, 300, 529. 

Astor, John Jacob, founds Astoria, 71-76. 
His fur company, 71-74. Dissolution 
of his fur company, 74-75. Establishes 
another company, 74-76. Fur company 
in the Rocky mountains, 75. 

(669) 



670 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



Atlantic and Pacific railroad, 603-604. 
Australia, gold discovered, 253. Yield 

of mines, 267-270. 
Austria, mining in, 273, 
Aztecs in Mexico, 34. 

Balboa discovers the Pacific ocean, 35. 

Banishment of Mexican authorities, 61- 
62. 

Barley product of California, 322. In 
the several counties, 443-523. 

Baron Horton's account of Great Salt 
lake, 560-562. 

Bay of San Francisco discovered, 37-43 
Of San Diego and Monterey discovered 
43-45. Discovered by Don Caspar Por 
tala, 49-51. First vessel to enter, 51 
Francis Drake did not discover, 42-44, 
Captain John Brown ordered to leave 
68-69. First steamboat on, 118-125 
Islands in, 194-198. 

Bays and harbors in California, 190-201. 

"Bear flag" in California, 90-93-96. 

Beaver makes a voyage to Russian Amer- 
ica, 72-73. 

Bees on the Pacific coast, 244. In Cali- 
fornia, 354. 

Beet sugar, 339. 

Begging as a profession, 400-402. 

Behring in the Pacific ocean, 36, 65. 

Bellingham bay and vicinity, 619. 

Benevolent and aid societies, 400-402. 

Berries and fruits, 327-331. 

Big trees and vegetable growths, 157, 163- 
166. 

Birds, 241. 

Blind, deaf, and dumb, schools for, 395. 

Bodega bay settled by Russians, 59. Ex- 
tent and location, 197. 

Boise, Lewiston, and other cities of Idaho, 
612. 

BoLiNAS bay, 19J5. 

Boundary between United States and 
Canada, 72. 

Books, newspapers, libraries, and litera- 
ture, 396-400. 



Book of Mormon, its origin and influence, 
568-600. 

Borax and its collection, 277. 

BosioN merchants on the Pacific coast, 
6fV-8o. 

Boston, ship, en the Northwest coast, 69. 

Bravo river, 184. 

Brazil discovered, 35. 

Bridger, James, discoverer of Great Salt 
lake, 561-562. 

British Columbia, gold yield of, 267 
Its history, area, soil, mountains, rivers, 
islands, forests, climate, productions, 
mines, progress, cities, resources, &c., 
632-643. Population of, 664. 

British naval vessels in the Columbia, 69- 
70. Occupy and claim Oregon, 72-76. 
Formally surrender, 74-75. Seek to 
secure California, 93-99. 

Brooklyn, Mormon ship, at San Francis- 
co, 116. 

Broughton, captain in British navy, in 
the Columbia river, 69-70. 

Brown, John, ordered out of California, 
he remonstrates, 68-69. First American 
in California, 79. 

Buddhism, the religion of the East, 430- 
437. And other religions of the world, 

563-569- 
Buena Vista lake, 179. 
Bull and bear fights, 237-238. 
Buried, Chinese never, in America, '434. 
Butte county, area, soil, climate, resources, 

population, &c., 478-479. 

Cabot in Newfoundland, 35. 

Cabrillo in California, 36, 42. 

California, unknown, 34. Cortez in, 36. 
Cabrillo explores, 36. Drake on the 
coast, 36. Viscayno in, 36. Spanish 
and other navigators in, 35-39. Jesuits 
and Franciscan friars, 37. Spanish rule 
in, 37. Gold discovered, 38-39. Ameri- 
can rule in, 38. Pilgrim gold-seekers 
in, 38-39. First account of, 40-49. Ac- 
quisition by America, 40-47. Cortez's 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



671 



expeditions, 41-48. Cabrillo in, 42. 
Francis Drake takes possession of, 42- 
43. Called New Albion, 42. Called 
" Drake's land back of Canada," 43. 
Philip, King of Spain, interested in, 
43-47. Spiritual conquest of, 44-49. 
Father Ugarta in, 46-47. Gulf of, ex- 
plored, 46-47. " Planting the cross" in, 
40-49. Missions established in, 40-49. 
Jesuits expelled from, 47-48. First set- 
tlement in, 49-51. End of Spanish rule 
in. 55-59. Always unsettled, 58-65. 
France desires, 59. Russians in, 59-60. 
Graham and others revolutionize, 60-65. 
Commodore Jones takes possession of, 
62. Early navigators and voyagers in, 
64-80. Captain Cook forbad to enter, 
66. Boston merchants in, 66-80. Cap- 
tain John Brown in, 78-79. Russians 
in, 70-71. Early American navigators 
in, 67-72. Jedediah Smith first explorer 
overland, 75-78. Turner, Galbraith, and 
others arrested, 75-76. Chinese immi- 
gration encouraged, 78. P'irst Ameri- 
cans in, 79-83. Early settlement in, 79- 
85. Commodore Wilkes in, 80-82. As 
seen by Fremont, 83-85, 89-106. Mexi- 
can rule in, 86-94. Early condition of, 
87-106. War in, 89-106. Fremont 
governor of, 92. Commodore Sloat 
takes possession of, 92-106. Mexican 
feuds in, 97-110. To be ceded to 
France or England, 97-110. Americans 
in possession of, 92-110. Acquisition 
and boundary of, 110-115. Organized 
as a State, ill. Original title to the 
soil, 1 1 2-1 15. Under American rule, 
early population, 1 16-130. Gold dis- 
covered in, 119-123. Chinese in, 122- 
123. Fii-st steamers in, 125. Early 
mining in, 130-143. Earliest mention 
of its name, 147-150. Area of, 151- 
154. Area and population compared 
with other countries, 1 51-154. Moun- 
tains, valleys, and resources, 153-159. 
Rivers in, 180-191. Lakes, 171-179. 



Bays in, 190-201. Islands in, 202-206. 
Springs in, 207-213. Yosemite, 214- 
220. Earthquakes, 220-235. Gold, 
mines, and mining, 248-270. Physical 
structure, 289-291. Climate and seas- 
ons, 292-305. Rainfall, 300-303. Area, 
315. Wheat, 320. Resources, 355-381. 
Railroads in, 358-359. Navigation of, 
367-369. Ship-building, 369-372. Tele- 
graph and time in, 371-374. Commerce, 
trade, and shipping, 377-381. Schools, 
education, books, newspapers, colleges, 
&c., 377-400. Religion, prisons, asy- 
lums, executive, judiciary, laws, lawyers, 
402-419. Chinese, 420-441. Counties 
in, set forth, 443-523. Population by 
counties, &c., 658. 

Calaveras, grove of big trees, 164-167. 

Calaveras county, area, soil, climate, 
" big trees," resources, population, &c., 
510. 

Calistoga springs, 208. 

Canada Pacific railway and its influence 
642. 

Canals and ditches, 276-277. 

Cape Horn discovered, 36. 

Carmelo bay, 192. 

Carteret in the Pacific, 36. 

Castro, General, revolution in California, 
60-61. In authority, 86-89. ^^i^ com- 
bats with Fremont, 89-106. 

Catholicism established, 40-54, 61. Its 
extent in California, 403-408. In the 
world, 563-567. 

Cattle, horses, and sheep, 306-308. 
Raising, branding, vaquero, 344-350. 
In each of counties of California, 443- 
523. In Oregon, 538. In Nevada, 545. 

Caves in Cahfornia, 281-282. 

Cemenon's explorations and voyages, 65. 

Cement mining, 265-266. 

Central Pacific railroad, 360-367. Its 
effects, 380. Chinese constructing, 426. 

Charitable and aid societies, 400-402. 

Children in the schools, 384-387. 

Chinese in California, 122-123. "Shall 



6;^ 



THE GOLDEN STATE'. 



enter the Golrlen Gnte," 196-198. In 
Australia, 269. Mining tax, 289. Chil- 
dren in the schools, 385. Men in the 
schools, 388. Numbers, religion, em- 
ployment, customs, &c., 421-442. Total 
in America, 422. In Australia, 420, 442. 
Christianity of the, 439. Slavery of, in 
America, 440. In San Francisco, 454, 
466. In Nevada, 541. In Arizona, 600. 
In Idaho, 612. In the United States 
and on the Pacific coast, 558-565. In 
Washington Territory, 624. 

Christ in person in America, 572. 

Christianity, first, in America, 34. In 
California, 40-54-61. Among the Chi- 
nese, 420,441. Chinese progress in, 439. 
In the world, 563. 

Churches, ministers, and religion, 403- 
408. 

'^Civilizaticn" introduced into California, 
47-48. 

Clear lake, 175-177. 

Cliff house, 196. 

Climate in the Sierras, 159-161. Of Cali- 
fornia, 292-305 ; and fruits, 329-331. In 
California, 355. Of each section of the 
State by counties, 443-523. Of the Pa- 
cific coast, 523-525. Of Oregon, 526- 
540. Of Nevada, 541-547. Of Utah, 
550. Of Arizona, 600. Of Idaho, 610. 
Of Washington Territory, 620-625. Of 
British Columbia, 632, 643. Of Alaska, 
644, 663. 

Coal and coal-mining, 277. In Washing- 
ton Territoiy, 623. 

Coast rivers, 184-189. 

Coast Range mountains, 159-162. 

Coast counties, climate, soil, area, pro- 
ductions, population, tovi^ns, 443-523. 

Cobalt and nickle, 278. 

Coin only circulated on the Pacific coast, 
375-377- 

CoLLiNGWOOD, Admiral Seymour, outdone, 

93-95- 
Coloma, where Marshall discovered gold 
m 1848, 515. 



Colonization of America, 33-39. Of 
California and the Pacific coast, 36-39. 

Colored persons in the United States and 
on the Pacific coast, 658-665. 

Colorado river and its sources, 601. Ex- 
ploration of, 46-47. 

Colored children in the schools, 385- 
386. 

Columbia cruises on the Pacific, 66-69. 

Columbia river discovered by Captain 
Gray, 66-68. Entered by other naviga- 
tors, 69-70. British exploring, 69-70. 
Pass to, sought by the United States, 82- 
85. Fremont's explorations of, 88-94. 
Exploration and discovery, 527-529. 
Navigation of, 530. 

Columbus discovers America, 35. 

Colusa county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 479-480. 

Commerce of California, 138. General, 
309-317. Tables showing extent and 
comparisons, 377-381. Of Oregon, 530- 
535. Of Washington Territory, 624. 

Comstock mines, Nevada, 263-264. 

Confucius and his religion, 431-435, 

Congress, United States ship, in California, 
96-97. Announces gold discovery, 121. 

Consuls in California, 94, 114-115. 

Contra Costa county, area, soil, climate, 
resources, population, &c., 487-488. 

Cook's voyages, 36, 65-68. Not permitted 
to enter California, 66. 

CooLYiSM in America, 440. 

Copper and copper-mining, 277. 

CoRTEZ in Mexico, 34. In California, 36, 
41-47. Leaves for Spain, 42. 

Cotton and rice, 340. 

Counties of California, area, soil, climate, 
towns, population, &c., 443-523. 

Courts and lawyers, 417-419. 

Crespi, Father, at San Diego, 49-50. 

Crescent City harbor, 200. 

Crime, prisons, and asylums, 408-413. 

Cuba, coolyism in, 440. 

Cyane, United States vessel, in California, 
103. 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



^n 



Dana, James D., his account of t^old on 
the Pacific, 255. 

Deak, dumb, and blind, schools for the, 395. 

Death valley, encountered by Fremont, 
84. Location, &c., 180. Peculiar feat- 
ures, 225-235. 

Deer and other animals, 240-241. 

Defamers, thieves, and quacks, 408-413. 

Del Norte county, area, soil, climate, for- 
ests, resources, population, &c., 472-473. 

Diamonds in California, 278. 

Discovery of America, 33-39. Green- 
land and Iceland, 34-35. Peru, 36. 
Alaska, 36. Golden Gate, 37. Gold, 
38. Gold by Wilkes, 82. 

Divorce, laws of, 417. 

Doctrines and faith of the Monnons, 596- 
600. 

Dominican friars as missionaries, 47-48. 

DoNNER lake, 177. 

"Donner party" in the Sierras, 144. 

Douglas, Thomas, first school-teacher in 
California, no. 

Drake, Sir Francis, in California, 36. 
Takes possession of California for Great 
Britain, 42. Did not enter the Golden 
Gate, 42-44. Departure for England, 
43. In California, 64. His mention of 
gold discoveries, 254. 

Drake's bay not the Bay of San Francisco, 
43. " Drake's land back of Canada," 
43. In Marin county, 198. 

Dry lakes, 180. 

DUPONT, Commodore, in California, 97. 

Dutch navigators in the Pacific, 36. 

Eagle lake, 176. 

Earthquakes and volcanoes in various 

parts of the world, 220-235. 
East India Company, 65. 
EcH andia. Governor of California, alarmed 

at American encroachments, 75-79. 
Eden, gold in, 248. 
Education, schools, colleges, newspapers, 

books, 382—400. American, in Japan, 

423. In San Francisco, 454-466. 
43 



Ekl river, 187. 

El Capitan, 217. 

El Dorado county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 513-515. 

El Dorado, new, discovered, 38-39. 

Electro-Silicon, 278. 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, claims 
California, 42-43. 

Elk and deer, 240-241. 

Empress of Russia gives pass to Ledyard, 

65- 

England claims California, 42-43, 70. 
Sends expeditions to the Pacific coast, 
64-69. Occupies and clamis Oregon, 72- 
76. War with the United States, 73. 
Formally surrenders Oregon, 74. Seeks to 
obtain California, 93-99. Gold in, 250. 

Esquimalt as a harbor, 640. 

EsTERO bay, 192. 

Europe, countries of, compared with Cali- 
fornia in area and population, 152-153. 
Gold in, 250. 

Executive, judiciary, laws, &c., 414-417. 

Exemptions from legal process, 416. 

Explorations and early voyages in Amer- 
ica, 33-69. Of Lewis and Clark, and 
others, 7 1-72. Fremont's, on the Pacific 
coast, 82-96. Of Oregon, 526-529. 

Faces, Pedro, Governor of California, re- 
specting the Columbia and IVashmgton, 
67. 

Fall lake, 176. 

Farallones, Russian settlement at, 70. 
Island of, 206. 

Farming and farmers, 305-317. Of fru t 
and vegetables, 324-331. In Oregon, 

537-539- 

Fashion among the Chinese, 438. 

" Fathers" in California, 40, 54. Ban- 
ished, 47, 49-54. Missions confiscated, 

55-57- 
Father Duran, letter from Jedediah 

Smith, 76-77. 
Fe.\ther river, 182. 
Female suffrage in Utah, 584-587. 



674 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



Figs and other fruits, 330-331. 

First schools in California, 384. 

First vessel to enter the Golden Gate, 51. 

To enter the Columbia river, 68. 
Fish in the Pacific, 244-247. In the 

waters of Alaska, 655-656. 
Flathead Indians of the Northwest, 642. 
Flax in California, 324. 
Fleas in California, 244. 
Fleet, Commodore Wilkes', in the Pacific, 

81-82. 
Flores, Don Jose Marid, a troublesome 

customer — his proclamation, 104-106. 
Flowers, 304. Shrubs, plants, and grasses, 

167-169. 
Floyd, J. B., encourages Chinese immi- 
gration to California, 78. 
FOLSOM as an early trading place, 75. 
Foreigners in America, on the Pacific 

coast, by counties, 658-665. 
Forests and forest trees and shrubs in 
California, 162-166. In the several 
counties in California, 443-523. Of 
Oregon, 566. 
Fort Ross, Russian establishment in Cali- 
fornia, 70. 
Fort Vancouver, early trappers at, 78. 
Franciscan friars in California, 37, 47. 

Sovereigns in the land, 54, 86. 
France desires to possess California, 59. 
Frazer river, British Columbia, 636. 
Freiberg mines, 274-275. 
Fremont, John C, first expedition to the 
Rocky mountains, 82-85. Third expe- 
dition, 88-96. Appointed governor, 92. 
Early in official difficulties, loi-iio. 
Achieves a victory, 106-107. Polk par- 
dons : nominated for President of the 
United States, 109. 
Fresno county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 496-497. 
Fruit, production, quantity, and value of, 
chief localities producing, 327-331. In 
each of the counties of California, 443- 
523. In Oregon, 537-539. Washington 
Territoiy, 620-631. 



FucA strait. Captain Robert Gray in, 68. 

Vancouver and Wilkes in, 81-82. As a 

boundaiy, 112. 
Fur and fur-bearing animals, 239. In 

Alaska, 649-656. 

Geysers of California, 211-213. 

Ghent, treaty of, applied to Oregon, 74. 

Gillespie, Lieutenant, overland journey, 
89-90. 

Gilroy, John, early in California, 79, 

Godhead of the Momions, 591-592. 

Gold discovered, 38. Jedediah Smith 
said to have discovered, 78. Discovery 
reported by Wilkes, 82. Discovered at 
Sutter's mill, 1 19-120. Early mining, 
124-138. Yield, 132. Hunters buried. 
144. Location of supply, 157. In 
Eden, 248. Of the ancients, 249. In 
South and Central America, 249-252. 
Discovery of, in the United States, 250- 
253. In California, Australia, Canada, 
and Nova Scotia, 253-270. Chinese in 
search of, 420-441. " Mountains of, in 
California," 422. Product of the Pacific 
coast, 264-270. In California, Oregon, 
Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Wash- 
ington Territory, 264-270. In Nevada, 
544. In Oregon, 526. In Arizona, 603- 
604. In Washington Territory, 623. 

Golden Gate discovered, 37. Drake did 
not enter, 42-44. Discovered by Don 
Caspar Portala, 49-51. First vessel to 
enter, 51, 194-198. Chinese shall enter, 
197. 

Golden Hinde, Drake's vessel, 42. 
Golden plates of the Book of Moiinon, 

568-600. 
Goose lake, 171. 

Governors of California, Spanish and 
Mexican, 57-59, 86-S9, 1 14. Military, 
107-109. American civil, 414-415. 
Governor Gutierrez deposed, 60-6 1. 
Graham, Isaac, revolution *nd banishment 

of, 60-65. 
Granite and marble, 281. 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



675 



Grant, first land, in California, 53. 

Grape culture and wine, 332-334. Largest 
vine in the world, 335. 

Grasses, flowers, plants, and shrubs, 167- 
169. 

Grass valley mines, 264, 

Grasshoppers blocking roads, 244, 

Gray, Captain Robert, on the Pacific coast, 
66-80. Discovers the Columbia river, 
67-68. At Puget sound and vicinity, 
61S. 

Great Britain, area compared with Cali- 
fornia, 152-153. Gold in, 250. Min- 
eral yield, 269-270. 

Great Salt lake, its extent, &c., 552. 

Greenland discovered, 34-35. 

•'Griffins" in the country, 148-149. 

Grizzly bear, 236-237. 

Guadalupe lake, 179. 

Gulf of California explored, 46-47. 

Gulf of Georgia and the Indians, 640. 

Gypsum in California, 278. 

Harbors in California, 190-201. 

Half-moon bay, 193. 

Harems of the Mormons, 597-599. 

Highland lakes, 177. 

Hogs and their numbers, 353-354. 

Holidays unknown to Chinese, 435. 

" Holy Fathers" in California, 40-54. 

Home for inebriates, 399. 

Homestead of husband or wife, or any 

head of a family, 415. 
Horned toad, 243. 
Honey lake, 176. 
Hops in California, 324. 
Horses 'in California, 154, 306. And their 

use and numbers, 350-352. None in 

China, 439. 
" Hounds," a murderous rabble, 133. 
How to secure the public lands, 316-318. 
Hudson Bay Company in Oregon, 74-75. 

Trading with murdeious Indians, 78. 

Ship at Monterey, 79. At San Francisco, 

117. In British Columbia, 637-639. 
Humboldt county, area, soil, climate, 



forests, resources, population, &;c., 469- 

470. 
Humboldt bay, 199. 
Humphrey, Isaac, "knows the stuff," 120. 
Hunt, Rev. T. Dwight, first Protestant 

minister in California, 1 18-119. 
Husband, can sell wife and child in China, 

435. In Utah, 593-599. 

Iceland discovered, 34-35. 

Idaho, yield of mines, 267, 610. Chinese 
in, 422. Newspapers in, 465. Area, 
climate, soil, mountains, rivers, forests, 
mines, valleys, sceneiy, resources, popu- 
lation, &c., 6o7-6'i2. Population, Chi- 
nese, &c., 662. 

Ide, William B., raises the "bear flag" 
and issues a proclamation, 90-92. 

Immigrants, "the plains across," 121. 
Flocking into the mines, 137. 

Importations in California, 138. And 
exportations, 377-381. 

Indians, Christian, in California, 45-47, 52- 
53. Kodiak, in California, 60. On the 
Colorado, 75. Murder trappers in 
Oregon, 77-78. Yuma, plunder trappers, 
78. With Fremont, 84-89. In the gold- 
mines, 131. In the public schools, 387. 
In Oregon, 539. Of Alaska, 645. In 
Arizona, 604-606. In Idaho, 610. In 
Alaska and British Columbia, 663. 
In Washington Territory, 624. In British 
Columbia, 634. 

Industrial school, 395. 

Inebriates' home, 399. 

" Infidels" as a boundaiy for nations, 113. 

Inheritance, laws respecting, 416. 

Insane asylum and its occupants, 413-414, 

Interior and valley counties, area, soil, 
climate, valleys, resources, &c., 474-503. 

Interest on money, 357. 

Intoxication almost unknown among the 
Chinese, 436. 

Inyo comity, area, soil, mountains, forests, 
climate, resources, population, &c., 505- 
506. 



6^6 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



Inyo, earthquake of 1872, 225-235. 
Iron in California, 278. 
Islands in California, 202-206. 

Jackson, President, account of early trap- 
pers, 78. 

Japanese in the United States and in Cali- 
fornia, 423. Religion of, 431. 

Japanese junk wrecked on the coast of 
Washington Territory, 81. 

Japan, Christianity in, 564. 

Jefferson, Thomas, interested in explor- 
ing the Pacific, 65. Lewis' and Clark's 
expedition, 71. 

Jesuits in California, 37, 44-54. Ex- 
pelled by King Charles of Spain, 47-48. 

Jews, " dispersion" of, 565. 

Jones, Commodore, takes possession of 
California, 62. 

Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, 
his birth, career, and death, 566-600. 

Joss-houses in San Francisco, 426, 433. 

Juan de Fuca strait, its discovery, early 
history, &c., 616-625. 

Judiciary, State, 417. 

Kearney, General S. W., overland to 
California, 97. Persecutes Fremont, 107- 
109. Takes his departure, 108-109. 

Kern county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 499. 

Kendrick, Captain, on the Pacific coast, 
66-69. 

Kenguelen explores the Pacific, 37. 

Kern lake, 179. 

King George's Sound Company, 65. 

King's river, 183. 

King of Spain, authority in California, 44- 
47. Charles expels the Jesuits, 47-48. 
Influence in San Diego, 47-48. 

Kino's, Father, expeditions, 46-47. 

Kit Carson with Fremont, 88-89. 

Klamath county, area, soil, climate, for- 
ests, productions, population, &c., 471- 
472. 

Klamath river, 188. 



Lake Cceur d' Aline, 609. 

Lake Eleanor, 178. 

Lake Pen d'Orellie, 609. 

Lakes Tahoe, Humboldt, and others, in 
Nevada, 173, 542-543- 

Lakes — Lake Tahoe and all the chief 
lakes in California, 171-179. Of Ore- 
gon, 534-536. Of Nevada, 542-543- 

Lake county, area, soil, climate, resources, 
population, &c., 482-483. 

Lakes in Oregon, 535. 

" Land of Gold," early mention of, 148- 

149- 

Lands in California, 152-154. Spanish 
grants and public lands, 316-321. Pub- 
lic, for educational purposes, 377-400. 
How disposed of, 416. 

Land oflices in California, 316-317. 

La Purissima Concepcion mission founded, 

52. 

Larkin, Thomas O., United States consul 
at Monterey, 92, 114. 

Lassen county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 521. 

"Latter-Day Saints," their religion, 
practices, and origin, 566-600. 

Laws, homestead, divorce, separate prop- 
erty, &c., 415-417. 

Laws, mining, 282-289. 

Lawyers and courts, 417-419. 

Lead on the Pacific coast, 279. Mountains 
of, in Arizona, 602. 

Ledyard, John, his explorations, 65. Ban- 
ished by Empress of Russia, 66. 

Leese, Jacob P., builds first house at San 
Francisco, 1 17. 

Legislature and laws, 415-417. 

Lemair in the Pacific ocean, 36. 

Lemons and limes, 330. 

Letter from sea captains to release Ameri- 
can explorers, 76-79. J. K. Paulding 
to Lieutenant Wilkes, 80-81. 

Lewis' and Clark's expeditions, 71. 

Lewis' and Clark's river, 608-609. 

Lihraries, colleges, schools, education, 
and books, 377-400, 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



6^7 



LlEDESDORFF, Captain, introduces first 
steamboat in California, Ii8, 139. 

Limitation, statute of, 417. 

Limes and lemons, 330. 

Lion and cougar, 239. 

Little river, 188. 

Lone Pine destroyed by earthquake, 227. 

Los Angeles, battle of, 63. County of, 
area, soil, climate, productions, popula- 
tion, and towns, 445. 

Louisiana, acquisition of, 113-115. 

Love-making, peculiar, among the Chi- 
nese, 434. 

Lower California explored, 40-49. Cortez 
and Ximines explore, 41-43. Ulloa in, 
41. Visited by Salva Tierra, 44-45. 
Expedition of Governor Portala to San 
Diego, 49-51- 

Lower Klamath lake, 173. 

Lumber of Oregon, 536-537. Of Wash- 
ington Territory, 624. 

Mad river, 188. 

Magellan discovers the straits and names 
the Pacific ocean, 35-36. 

Manufactures and resources of Califor- 
nia, 355-380. Of Oregon, 558. 

Marble and granite, 281. 

Mariposa county, area, soil, climate, for- 
ests, Yosemite valley, population, re- 
sources, &c., 507-508. 

Marin county, area, soil, productions, 
climate, resources, population, &c., 466- 
467. 

Mariposa grove of big trees, 165-166. 

Marriage, none with Chinese, 428. 

Marshall, James W., discovers gold in 
California, 1 19-123. Location of dis- 
covery, 514. 

Mason, Colonel, in command of California, 
108-109. Succeeded by Riley, no. 

Massachusetts issues passports to Cap- 
tain Gray and associates, 67-68. Early 
traders to the Pacific, 66-80. 

Match-making among the Chinese, 435. 

Mendocino county, area, soil, climate, 



forests, productions, population, &c., 
468-469. 

Merced county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 495-496. 

Merchandise, prices in the mines, 130, 
Paving the streets with, 137. Imports 
and exports, 378. 

Mexico, first settled, 34. Cortez and 
Montezuma in, 34. Aztecs' temples, 34. 
Confiscates missions, 54-57. Indepen- 
dence of, 55. Republican government 
established, 55-58. Rule in California, 
57- Authorities of, banished, 61-63. 
Calls on " Uncle Sam" for aid, 70. Rule 
of, in California, 86-89. War with the 
United States, 93-95. Feuds in Cali- 
fornia, 97-110. War with the United 
States, no. Land grants in California, 

153-155- 

Micheltorena appointed military gov- 
ernor, 62. 

Military governor, feuds and jealousies, 
107-109. 

Mineral lands and laws regarding, 281- 
289. 

Mines, discovery of and rush to, 1 19-123. 
Early scenes in, 124-139. Of the pre- 
cious metals, and earliest history and 
yield of, 248-270. Of metals in Great 
Britain, 269-270. Tunnel-mining, 271- 
282. In various parts of the world, 
273-280. Mining laws, 281-2S9. Chi- 
nese in, 425. In Nevada county, 516- 
518, 544. In Oregon, 526. In Utah, 
552. In Arizona, 602-603. In Wash- 
ington Temtory, 623. In British Co- 
lumbia, 635. 

Ministers, churches, and religion, 403- 
408. 

Mint, first, in California, 205. United 
States and coinage, 375-377. 

Mirror lake, 175-219. 

Missions established, 40-54. Founding 
of San Francisco, 51-53. Presidios of 
the, 53. End of, in California, 54-57. 
Dolores at San Francisco, 117. 



6^2, 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



MoFRAS, M. Duflot de, French agent, 59. 
Mohammedanism and other rehgions, 

563-569- 

Mohave river, 184. 

MoNCADA, Don, at San Diego, 49. 

Money, coin, and paper — paper not in use 
on the Pacific coast — 375-377. 

Mono county, area, soil, chmate, resources, 
population, &c., 506-507. 

Monterey, first visited, 44. Portala's ex- 
pedition to, 50-51. Mission founded, 
52. Taken by Commodore Jones, 62. 
Destroyed by pirates, 79. Earliest com- 
merce of, 79-82. Taken possession of 
by Commodore Sloat, 92-106. Stockton 
in command, 102. Capital and consuls 
at, 114. 

Monterey bay, 192. 

Montgomery, Commodore, hoists the 
stars and stripes over Yerba Buena, 96- 

97- 

Monterey county, area, soil, climate, pro- 
ductions, population, &c., 450-451. 

Mono lake, 178. 

Mormons in California, 116, 582. In 
Utah, 549-600. 

Mountains, valleys, rivers, and forests in 
California, 1 56-159, 1 70. In Oregon, 
532. In Washington Territory, 613. In 
British Columbia, 635. In Alaska, 644- 
660. 

Mountain counties, area, soil, climate, 
rivers, forests, mountains, resources, 
population, &c., 504-522. 

Mount Hood, Oregon, 533. 

Mounts Hooker and Brown, 635. 

Mount Olympic, 615. 

Mount Rainier, 614. 

Mount St. Elias, Alaska, 647. 

Mourning of Chinese indicated by white, 

434. 

Mules and their uses, 353. 
Murder of children in China, 435. 
Mustard, wild, 324. 

Nanaimo and its coal-mines, 641. ' 



Napa county, area, soil, climate, resources, 

population, &c., 483-484. 
Nationalities in State prison, 411-413. 

National education, agricultural colleges, 
388-400. 

Native Americans in the United States and 
on the Pacific coast, by counties, 658-665. 

Nauvoo, its erection, evacuation, and de- 
struction, 578-580. 

Navigation in California, 367-369. 

Navigators and explorers on the Pacific 
coast, 64-80. 

Navy-yard, 195. At Mare island, 377. 

Nevada, gold and silver mines, 263-264. 
Yield of mines, 266-267. Railroads in, 
358. Chinese in, 422. Newspapers in, 
465. Area, climate, soil, forests, rivers, 
lakes, mines, agriculture, development, 
and resources, 541-547. Chinese in, 
541. Beds and mountains of salt, 5^6. 
Population of, 660. 

Nevada county, area, soil, climate, mines, 
resources, population, &c., 516-518. 

New Albion, name given to California by 
Sir Francis Drake, 42-43. 

New England, settlement of, 36. 

Newfoundland, Cabot in, 35. 

Newspapers, books, libraries, and litera- 
ture, 369-400. In San Francisco, 454^ 
466. 

New World, settlement of, 33-39. 

New- year of the Chinese, 435-437. 

" Nice young men" and " bummers," 410- 

413- 

Normal school, education, and colleges, 
382-400. 

Northern Pacific railroad, in Idaho, 
611. Its extent, influence, and import- 
ance, 626-631. 

Northmen in America, 34-35. 

Northwest Fur Company on the Pacific, 
72-74. 

Northwest boundary defined, 11 2- 11 5. 

Nova Scotia gold-mines, 253. 

Oats in California, wild oats, 323, 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



679 



Ocean, bay, and river navigation, 367-369. 

Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah, 557. 

Olives, nuts, and fruits, 330-332. 

Onions in California, 324. 

OriUM, used by Chinese, 436-437. In the 
United States, 437. 

Oranges and other fruits, 327-33 1, 

Oregon, discovered and explored, 66-80. 
First settlement in, 71. John Jacob 
Astor in, 71-72. Pacific Fur Company, 
71-76. Occupied and claimed by the 
English, 72-76. Formally surrendered 
by the English, 74. Fort George, 74. 
Hudson Bay Company in, 74-75. Early 
fur traders in, 75. Trappers murdered 
in, by Indians, 77-78. Commodore 
Wilkes in, 81-82. Wilkes reports gold 
in, 82. Fremont in, 83-85, 89. Boun- 
dary defined and title settled, II2-115. 
Gold product of, 267. Rainfall, 300. 
Farming in, 306. Railroads in, 358. 
Agricultural societies;, 394-395. Chinese 
in, 422. Newspapers in, 465, Area, 
geography, climate, seasons, forests, 
minerals, mining, agriculture, rivers, 
mountains, resources, population, cities, 
society, &c., 526-540. Railroads and 
navigation, 530-532. Lakes, forests, 
game, lumber, &c., 534-536. Agricul- 
ture, industries, manufactures, commerce, 
cities, progress, &c., 537-539. Popula- 
tion of, 660. 

Oregon, steamship, arrived at San Fran- 
cisco, 125. 

Oriental seal broken, 38-39. 

Oriental habits in California, 425-429. 
Religion, 430-435- 

Owens lake, 176. 

Owens river, 184. Affected by earth- 
quake, 227. 

Oxen and their uses, 353. 

Oysters and other shell-fish, 145. 

Pacific coast, in obscurity, early voyage- 
ers and navigators on, 64-80. Wilkes' 
expedition to, 80-82. Its physical for- 



mation, 289-291. Railroads on, 358. 
Mints and coinage on, 375-377. Chinese 
on, 422. Newspapers on, 465. Area, 
soil, climate, forests, rivers, mountains, 
resources, population, &c., 523-525- 
Yield of gold and silver, 264-270. Mor- 
mon settlement on, 582-587. Popula- 
tion of, 658-665. Rain, climate, and 
temperature, 300-304. Steam navigation 
of, 367-369. Ship-building on, 369-370. 

Pacific ocean discovered, 35-36. Behr- 
ing, Cortez, Magellan, Pizarro, Cabrillo, 
Drake, Viscayno, Lemair, Schouten, 
Willis, Carteret, Cooke, Vancouver, 
Fuca, and Kenguelen in, 36-37. Early 
navigators and voyagers in, 64-80. • 
Wilkes' and other voyages in, 79-82. 

Pacific Fur Company in Oregon, 71-76. 

Pajaro river, 186. 

Palo Alto, battle of, no. 

Palon's, Father, explorations, 50-51, 

Panama, steamship, arrives at San Fran- 
cisco, 125. 

Panther, ship, arrives in California, 79. 

Paradise as known by Maundeville, 149- 
151. Terrestrial, 147-14S. 

Paulding's, J. K., instructions to Lieuten- 
ant Wilkes, 80-81. 

Peaches and other fruits, 330-332. 

Pelican bay, 201. 

Pena, Senor, prefect in California, 61. 

Peru discovered, 36. 

Petroleum m California, 279. 

Philip, King of Spain, interested in Cali- 
fornia, 43-65. 

Pico, Pio, Governor of California, 63, 86- 
89. 

Pilgrims, landing of, 36. Agriculture 
of, 310. 

Pioneers of Oregon, 539. 

Pioneer, first steamer on the Sacramento,, 

139- 

" Pioneer Society," guns of early Rus- 
sians, 70-71. "Bear Flag" in posses- 
sion of, 92. 

" Pious fund of California," 55-56. 



68o 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



Pirate, Naddodr, 34. Monterey destroyed 
by a, 79. 

Pitt river, igo. 

PiZARRO in Peru, 36. 

Plants, shrubs, flowers, and grasses, 167- 
169. 

Platinum and plumbago, 279. 

Placer county, area, soil, climate, mines, 
resources, population, &c., S^S^S'^- 

Plumas county, area, soil, climate, moun- 
tains, valleys, population, &c., 519-520. 

Plural wives of the Mormons, 579-600. 
New revelation regarding, 591-594. 

Poison oak, its effects and cure, 167-169. 

Polk, President, pardons Fremont, 109. 

Polygamy in Chma, 435. Among the 

Mormons, 593-599. 
. Pope Alexander VI, " source of all tempo- 
ral power," decides the limits of nations, 
112-113. 

. Population, earliest, in California, 52, 
I16-I17. Compared with other coun- 
tries, 152-154. Of all the counties in 
the State of California, 443-523. Of 
. San Francisco, 454-466. Of Oregon, 
526. Of Nevada, 541. Of Utah, 555. Of 
Arizona, 600. Of the United States, the 
Pacific coast, and all the country west 
of the Rocky mountains, 658-665. Of 
Washington Territory-, 624. 

PORTALA discovers the Golden Gate, 37, 
49 ; and Bay of San Francisco, 50-51. 

Portland, Oregon, and other cities, 540. 

Portsmouth, ship of war, at San Fran- 
cisco, 96-97. 

\ Portugal claims possessions on the Pa- 
cific, 112-114. 

Potatoes in California, 325. 

Poultry in California, 354. 
Presidios of the missionaries, 53. 

Prisons, crimes, and asylums, 408-413. 

Proclamation of W. B. Ide, 90-93. Of 
Commodore Jones, 62. Of Commodore 
Sloat, 94-97. Of Commodore Stockton, 
102-103. Of Flores, 104-106, OfKear- 
hey and Shubrick, 108. 



Professional begging, 400-402. 

" Professional men" in good supply, 419. 

Protestant church, first, in California, 
118-119. 

Protestantism, first, in California, 403- 
408. In the world, 565. 

Prunes, plums, and pomegranates, 331. 

PuGET sound, ship-building on, 370. Its 
discovery, early history, magnitude, com- 
merce, and climate, 616-625. Effects 
of Northern Pacific railroad, and future 
importance, 626-631. 

Quacks, vagabonds, and thieves, 40S-413. 
Quail and other birds, 241-242. 
Quartz-mining, 261-267. In various 

countries, 263-268. Mills, 266. In 

Nevada, 546. 
Quicksilver in California, 279. New 

Alameda mine, 494. 

Railroads in the United States, on the 
Pacific coast, and in California, 358-366. 
In Oregon, 532. In Arizona, 603. 
Northern Pacific and Canadian, 626, 642. 

Rain, frost, snow, ice, and winds, 295-303. 
In Oregon, 529. In Alaska, 649. In 
Arizona, 601. In "Washington Terri- 
tory, 620-624. In British Columbia, 634. 

Real estate and rents in San Francisco, 
136. 

Redwood creek, 188. 

Religion established by law, 61. 

Religious denominations of the world — 
Christians, Pagans, Mohammedans, Jews, 
Buddhists, and Momaons, 563-600. In 
Alaska, 653. 

Religion, churches, and preachers, 403- 
407. Of the Chinese, 429-433. Of the 
world, 430-439. 

Reptiles, horned toad, 242-244. 

Republican government, first, in America, 
34. In Mexico, 55-59. 

Resources of California, 1 51-159. Set 
forth by counties, climate, soil, area, pro- 
ductions, and population, 443-523, 



ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



68 1 



Revelation on polygamy, 591-594. De- 
nial of the right of polygamy, 594. 

Revolutions in California, 60-65. 

Rhet lake, 172. 

Rice and cotton, 340. 

Richardson, Captain W. A., builds first 
house at San Francisco, 117. 

RiLEV, General Bennet, military governor 
of California, no. 

Rivers in California, 181-190. 

Rivers in Oregon, 530-532. Of Nevada, 
542. 

Rocky mountains explored, 75-79. Fur 
companies in, 75. John C. Fremont ex- 
plores, 82-85. Railroad across, 360-367. 
In the Far West, 635. 

RosANOFF, Count Von, in California, 70. 

Russian America sold to the United States, 
70-71. 

Russian American Fur Company, 65, 649. 
Evacuate California, 70-71. 

Russians in California, 59, 60, 70. 

Russian river, 187. 

Sacramento county, city, area, soil, cli- 
mate, resources, population, &c., 485-487. 

Sacramento City established, 135-136. 
River navigation, 138-139. 

Sacramento river, 181. 

Salem, the capital of Oregon, 540. 

Salinas river, 185. 

Salmon, 246. 

Salt Lake City, its history, population, and 
people, 556-557. 

Salt, mountains, beds, and lakes of, in 
Nevada, 546. In Arizona, 602. 

Salt in California, 210-211. On the Pa- 
cific, 280. In Nevada, 546. In Ari- 
zona, 602. In Utah, 558. 

Salt lake, Fremont at, 85. Its extent, 
location, &c., 558. Earliest discovery 
and history of, 560-562. 

San Antonio arrives at San Diego, 48. 

San Antonio de Padua mission, 52. 

Santa Anna revokes confiscation of mis- 
sions, 56. 



Santa Barbara island, 203. 

Santa Barbara mission founded, 52. 

Santa Barbara county, area, climate, soil, 
productions, population, &c., 447-448. 

San Bernardino county, area, soil, climate, 
resources, population, &c., 500-503. 

San Buenaventura mission founded, 52. 

San Carlos leaves for San Diego, 48. 
First vessel to enter the Golden Gate, 51- 
52. 

Santa Catalina island, 203. 

Santa Clara mission founded, 52. 

Santa Clara county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, towns, population, &c., 493-495. 

San Clement island, 202. 

Santa Cruz county, area, soil, climate, pro- 
ductions, population, &c., 451-452. 

Santa Cruz bay, 193. 

Santa Cruz island, 204. 

Santa Cruz mission founded, 52. 

San Diego explored by Viscayno, 43-44, 
To be held for the King of Spain, 48. 
Arrival of San Carlos and San Antonio, 
48. First settlement, 49-51. Mission 
founded, 52. Delia Byrd enters, 70. 
Turner and Galbraith at, 75. Fremont 
at, 103-105. Area, climate, soil, pro- 
ductions, population, and towns of coun- 
ty, 444-445- 

San Diego harbor, 191. 

San Fernando Rey mission founded, 52. 

San Francisco bay, 43, 194. Discovered 
by Don Caspar Portala, 49-51. First 
vessel to enter, 51. Captain John Brown 
and others refused admission, 67-69. 
Francis Drake did not discover, 42-44. 
First steamboat on, 118, 125. Islands 
in, 194-198. Navigation on, 367-369. 

San Francisco city and county, area, loca- 
tion, population, commerce, manufac- 
tures, society, customs, newspapers, &c., 
454-466. 

San Francisco de Solano mission founded, 

53- 
San Francisco, mission founded, 51-52. 
Earliest settlement at, 79-82. Vincennes 



682 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



at, 82. Early condition of, 87-88. Taken 
possession of by the Americans, 96— 
99. First house built in, 117. Early 
commerce and newspapers, 1 17-123. 
Rush for the gold-mines from, 1 17-123. 
First steamer arrived at, 125. Destroyed 
four times, 134. Real estate and rents, 
136. Chinese in, 426-429. 

San Gabriel mission founded, 52. 

San Inez mission founded, 52. 

San Joaquin county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, cities, &c., 490-491. 

San Joaquin river, 182. 

San Jose mission founded, 52. 

San Jose, loss of, 48. 

San Juan Bautista mission founded, 52. 

San Juan Capistrano founded, 52. 

San Juan island and its occupancy, 641, 

San Lorenzo river, 186. 

San Luis Rey de Francia mission founded, 

52- 

San Luis bay, 192. 

San Luis Obispo county, area, soil, climate, 
productions, population, &c., 448-449. 

San Luis Obispo mission founded, 52. 

San Mateo county, area, soil, climate, pro- 
ductions, population, &c., 452-453. 

Santa Maria river, 185. 

San Miguel mission founded, 52. 

San Miguel island, 205. 

San Nicolas island, 203. 

San Pedro bay, 191. 

San Rafael mission founded, 53, 

Santa Rosa island, 204. 

Savannah and Preble take the tov^n of 
Monterey, 93-95. 

ScHOUTEN in the Pacific ocean, -i^i). 

Schools, colleges, education, books, news- 
papers, intelligence, 382-400. In San 
Francisco, 454-466. In Oregon, 539. 
In Utah, 55 1 . In Washington Territory, 
624. 

Schools, first, in California, 118. 

School lands of California, 318-319. 

Scientific agriculture, earliest efforts to es- 
tablish, in Europe and America, 3S8-395. 



Scott river, 190. 

Seals of Alaska and Newfoundland, 650- 
656. 

Seals and sea-lions, 239-240. 

Sea of Cortez, the Gulf of California, 151. 

Seasons and climate, 292-305. 

Serra, Father, at the head of the missions, 
47-48. At San Diego, 49-50. • 

Settlement, of America, 33-39. Of New 
England and Virginia, 36. First, in 
California, 49-51. First, of California, 
58-59. In Oregon, 71-75. Of Silka, 
65. Of San Francisco, 1 16-123. 

Seward's, W. H., puixhase of Alaska, 70- 

71- 

Seymour, British admiral, outdone in his 
designs on California, 93-99. 

Shasta county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 477-478. 

Sheep and wool in California, 154, 342- 
344. In Oregon, 538-539. 

Shell money of the natives, 205. 

Ship-building on the Pacific coast, 369- 
370. On Puget sound, 370. 

Shipping and commerce, 377-381. Of 
Oregon, 537-539. 

Shoshone falls, Idaho, 608. 

Shrubs, plants, flowers, and gi-asses, 167- 
169. 

Shubrick, Commodore, in California, 108. 

Sierra county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 518-519. 

Sierra Nevada mountains, Fremont and 
his party in, 83-85. . Climate of, 157- 
161. Mineral wealth and extent of, 523-^ 
525. In Nevada, 541. In the Far West, 

635. 

Silk and the silk-worm, 340-341. 

Siskiyou county, area, soil, climate, for- 
ests, resources, population, &c., 474- 
476. 

SlTKA founded, 65. With Alaska, pur- 
chased by the United States, 70-71, 645. 
Location, population, climate, &c., 653— 

655. 
Sl.wery of Chinese in America, 440. 



ANAL YTICAL INDEX. 



683 



ik-OAT, Commodore, takes possession of 
California, 92-106. 

Small feet of Chinese women, 438. 

Smith, Captain Jedediah, first man over- 
land, 75-79. His troubles and letters in 
California, 76-79. Finally slain on the 
Ciman-on river, 78. First American in 
California, 79. 

Smith, Joseph, the "prophet," founder of 
Mormonism, 566-600. 

Smith river, 189. 

Snake river, Idaho, 608. 

Snow blockade on railroads, 367. 

SoLA^K> couHty, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 484-485. 

Sonoma county, area, resources, soil, cli- 
mate, productions, geysers, population, 
467-468. 

Sonoma, capture of, 90-93, Fremont in : 
appointed governor, 92. 

Southern Pacific railroad, 603-606. 

Spanish navigators on the coast of Cali- 
fornia, 35-38. Rule in, 44-54. Galle- 
ons on the coast of California, 47. Rule 
in California, 57-59,87-89, I14. Jealous 
of Russians, 59. 

Spanish grants, 315. 

Speeches of Mexicans relating to Cali- 
fornia, 97-100. Of Thomas H. Benton, 
I13-114. 

"Spiritual" conquestof California, 44-49. 

Springs in California, 207. 

Stanislaus county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 491-493. 

State, California organized as a, III. 
Area and resources of, 1 5 1- 159. 

State of Deseret seeks admission into the 
Uni-on, 583-584. 

State laws respecting homestead, separate 
property, exemptions, and divorce, 415- 
417- 

State prison and its occupants, 40S-413. 

State university and school, 390. 

Stars and stripes hoisted, 92-99. 

Steamers, first,in California, 1 18-125, ^3^- 
139. Sailing to various ports and coun- 
tries, 367-369. 



" Stevenson's regiment" in California, 97. 

St. George and St. Paul, Alaska, 650-656. 

Stockton, Commodore, in California, 96- 
97. In command at Monterey, 102-105. 

Strait of Fuca, discoveiy, early history, 
and voyages to; Captains Gray and Cook 
at, 616-625. 

Strawberries, season of, 332. 

Sulphur in California, 280. 

Sunol, Antonio M., early settler in Cali- 
fornia, 79. 

SuTRO tunnel and the Comstock lode, 271- 

273- 

Sutter county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 481-482. 

Sutter, John A., in the revolutions, (^i^ 
Purchases Russian proi^erty, 70-71. 
Fremont at his home, 84. Gold discov- 
ered at his mill, II9-123. 

Sutter's fort, Fremont at, 92-93. 

Swan lake, 176. 

" Sydney ducks," a riotous rabble, 134. 

Tar springs, 210. 

Taylor, General, in Mexico, 93. 

Tea, its culture and variety, 335-339. Im- 
ports of, 380. 

Telegraph on the Pacific coast, 371-374. 

Temperature in various parts of the world, 
302-304. In the several counties of Cali- 
fornia, 443-523. 

Temperate habits of the Chinese, 436. 

Tennent, brig, enters the Columbia river, 
69. 

" Terrestrial paradise " on the Pacific, 
147-148. 

"The Book of Constant Purity," 197. 

The Bridal Vail, 219. 

Tpie California, first steamer in California, 
125. 

" The Cross" planted in California, 40-49. 

The " Dome" of Yosemite, 217. 

The flea in California, 244. 

The Five Classics and Four Books, 431. 

The Golden Rule of Confucius, 432. 

" The last tie and the last spike," 365. 

The place for the boys, 392. 



684 



THE GOLDEN STATE. 



" The same Brown," 68. 

Thieves, robbers, and vagabonds, 408-413. 

TiERRA, Salva, visits California, 44-46. 

Time in various places, 371-374. 

Timothy and clover not universally grown, 
169,323. 

Tin in California, 280-281. 

Tobacco in California, 325. 

TOMALES bay, 198. 

Towns in the counties of California, 443- 
523- 

Trans-continental railroads, 359-367. 

Trappers on the Pacific coast and in the 
Rocky mountains, 71-80. 

Treaty of Utrecht, 72. Of Ghent, 74. 
Between Russia and the United States, 
70-71. Between Mexicans and Ameri- 
cans, 106-107. Of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 
I10-115. With France and Spain, 113- 

"5- 

Treasure and commerce compared, 377- 

381- 

Trees, fruits, and herbs, 329-331. 

Trinity county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 476-477. 

Trinity bay, 200. 

Trinity river, 189. 

Truckee lake, 177. 

Tulare county, area, soil, climate, re- 
sources, population, &c., 497-498. 

Tulare lake, 171. 

Tuolumne county, area, soil, climate, 
mountains, forests, resources, population, 
&€., 50S-510. 

Ugarta, Father, in California, 46-47. 

Ulloa, Francisco de, explores Lower Cali- 
fornia, 41. 

" Uncle Sam" showing his authority on 
the Pacific, 70-71. 

United States, encourages Captain Gray, 
67-80. Settles difficulties between Russia 
and Mexico, 70-71. Citizens ordered 
out of California, 67-69. Purchases 
Alaska, 70-71. Northern boundary, 72. 
War with Great Britain, 73. Congress 



interested in exploration, 78-79. Con- 
gress projects Wilkes' expedition to the 
Pacific, 80-82. Seeks pass to the Co- 
lumbia river, 82-85. Takes possession 
of California, 92-106. Officials and sol- 
diers in California, 92-109. War with 
Mexico, no. Gold discovery in and 
product of, 250-253. Mining laws, 281- 
289. Aid to railroads, 363-364. Branch 
mint and coinage, 373-377. Establishes 
agricultural colleges, 388-400. Courts, 
418. Chinese and Japanese in, 420-441. 
Acquisition of Oregon and other teiTi- 
tory, 526-529. Religious denominations 
of, 565. Acquires Alaska, 656. Popu- 
lation of, 658. Yellowstone Park, 628. 
Aid to Northern Pacific railroad, 630. 

Union Pacific railroad, 363-366. 

Utah, precious metals in, 267. Chinese 
in, 423. Newspapers in, 465. Area, 
climate, mines, soil, rivers, lakes, agri- 
culture, Momions, population, cities, de- 
velopment, religion, 549-600. Popula- 
tion of, 661. 

Utrecht, treaty of, 72. As applied to 
the Northwest boundary, 112-I15. 

Vagabonds, quacks, thieves, and villains, 
408-413. 

Vallejo, General, at the head of military 
affairs, 60-64, 86-S9. Taken prisoner, 
90. Favors the Americans : his speech, 
99-100. 

Valley's and mountain ranges, 170. For- 
mation, 289-291. Flowers on, 304-305. 

VANCom'ER island and British Columbia, 
637-639. Boundaiy of, 1 12. 

Vancouver in the Pacific, 36. Island 
named, 37, 66. 

Vegetables, early, in the mines, 130- 
143. Production of, 325-326. And 
chief productions of each county in Cali- 
fornia, 443-523- 

Viceroy of Mexico's interests in California, 

42, 43-49- 
Victoria and Vancouver island, 637. 



AiVAL YTICAL INDEX. 



685 



ViNrFANF.s at San Francisco, 82. 
Virginia and other cities of Nevada, 

547- 

Virginia, first settlement in, t,^. 

VISCAYNO, Spanish explorer, on the coast 
of California, 36. Reaches San Diego, 
43-44; and Monterey, 44-45, 65. 

Volcanic eruptions and indications, 220- 

235- 
Voyages and explorations on the Pacific 
coast, 64-80. 

Walking, how the Chinese do, 439. 
Wallamet valley and its resources, 537- 

539- 

Wallamet falls, Oregon, 530. 

Wallamet river and its navigation, 531- 
532. 

Walnuts, fruits, and berries, 330-332. 

War in California, 89-106. Between the 
United States and Mexico, no. Of 
Queen Anne and Louis XIV, 113-114. 
With the Mormons, 584-585. 

Warm springs, 208. 

Washington Territory, Hudson Bay Com- 
pany in, 74-75. Wilkes visits wreck of 
Japanese junk in, 80-82. Gold product 
of, 267. Rainfall, 300. Ship-building 
in, 370. Chinese in, 423. Newspapers 
in, 465. Area, climate, soil, mountains, 
rivers, harbors, forests, mines, fish, pop- 
ulation, resources, railroads, &c., 613. 
Population, Chinese, &c., 631. 

Waterfalls, Yosemite, and others, 214- 
220. Wallamet, Oregon, 530. 

West Indies, Coolyism in the, 440. 

Whales in the Pacific, 245. 

Wheat in California, 154-305. Product 
of the State of California, 320. In the 
several counties, 443-523. In Oregon, 
537. In Nevada, Oregon, and other 
places, 544. 



White Sulphur springs, 208. Soda springs, 
209. 

Widows restrained from marrying, 438. 

Wife's separate property, 416. 

Wild oats in California, 169, 323. 

Wild game in Oregon, 536. 

Wilkes', Commodore, expedition to the 
Pacific coast, So-82. 

Willis in the Pacific ocean, 36. 

W^INE and grapes, 332-334. Shipment of, 
381. 

Wives of the " Saints," 594-600. 

Woman among the Mormons, her con- 
dition, &c., 554. 

Wool in California, 154. In Oregon, 538. 

Worship of the Chinese, 433-435. 

Ximines explores Lower California, 41. 

Yankee revolution in California, 60-61. 

Still bothersome, 62-63. Enterprise on 

the Pacific coast, 66-87. Merchant in 

the mines, 131-132. 
Yellowstone valley, its geysers, beauties, 

and wonders, 628. 
Yellowstone national park, the largest 

in the world, 628. 
Verba Buena, first settlement at, 117. 
Verba Buena, or Goat island, 196. 
Yolo county, area, soil, climate, resources, 

population, &c., 481-482. 
Yosemite valley and falls, 158, 214-220. 

Location of, &c., 507. 
Y0UNG,Brigham, converted to Mormonism : 

his birth and eventful career, 576-600.^ 
Yukon river, its extent, &c., 648. 
Yuba county, area, soil, climate, resources, 

population, &c., 4S0-481. 
Yuba river, 182. 

" ZiON, which never shall be moved," 575. 
Zoology of California, 236-247. 



